The Times We Lost Collection
by Falneou17
Summary: A collection of stories to address some of the questions readers may still have after reading The Times We Lost. Whether it be the days after they were torn apart or the future that they aim for, it will (hopefully) all be here. Will contain heavy spoilers for The Times We Lost. Not written in chronological order. Contains BlueFlora and other Afterglow-centric interactions.
1. A Blue Flower Wedding

**This has been something that I've been wanting to do for the longest of times, and today is finally the day! Once again, do note that each chapter may not be related to any other chapter in any way. This is just a collection of stories to address some of the unanswered questions that may arise from my BlueFlora fanfic, The Times We Lost. Most will be focusing on the supporting and minor characters of that fanfic, but let's start with something simple, shall we?**

 **Please do read The Times We Lost first, as these chapters will build upon the events of that story. And, as a result, will contain major spoilers for that story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream!**

* * *

"So… today is the day, isn't it?" the redhead asked her friend as she continued to run a brush through her friend's hair. As she did, Tomoe added with a teasing smile, "So, how nervous are you?"

"Very." Ran admitted, fidgeting with her clothes a bit but unable to do much else while her hair was being brushed. Hearing a short chuckle, Ran tried to look as far back as the brush would allow her, "And what's that supposed to mean? This whole… wedding… is nerve-wrecking!"

"I wasn't laughing because of that," Tomoe said in a warm voice, trying to reassure her friend, "It was more that I find it funny that of the five of us, it's you and Moca who tied the knot first. Does that make sense?"

"I guess… especially after everything that happened, yeah…" Ran muttered as she slumped down, accepting her fate as Tomoe made the finishing touches to her hair. After a short period of silence, Ran decided she had to say something again; and, having taken a deep breath to try and calm down, that was exactly what Ran did, "That… Tomoe… thanks…"

"You really don't have to. As we've always been saying, we're friends, and friends do these kinds of things for each other!" Tomoe grinned as she took a step back to examine her handiwork. Content, she took a mirror and held it up at various angles so Ran could see it, too, "And? What do you think?"

Ran was surprised to see what Tomoe did. Ran's hair wasn't naturally messy, but Tomoe managed to style it incredibly well; not a single strand of hair was out of place anymore. Tomoe had pulled the hair and tied it into a low ponytail while letting several strands on either side of Ran's face loose to frame her face.

This was also to help accent the pure white gown that Ran was wearing, the front ending just above her ankles and the back trailing out a bit. Both Ran and Tomoe had to admit that it suited Ran a lot more than either had expected it to.

Ran was about to comment on how she looked, but somebody beat her to it. Somebody who wasn't there in the room with them before.

"Amazing! Ran-chan, you look amazing!" an excited voice came from the door before a familiar figure rushed in. Turning to Tomoe, she added, "Onee-chan! Lisa-nee and Hii-chan are almost ready with the bride and they asked me to see if you were ready."

"Thanks, Ako." Tomoe smiled as she greeted her little sister who nodded vigorously in response. With a motion towards Ran, the redhead added, "I've made sure that Ran looks ready. It's up to Ran now whether or not she is ready emotionally."

"I'm not…" Ran muttered softly as she turned to the two sisters with a somewhat shaky smile, "But I probably won't ever be, so… let's do this."

"Well, then let's go!" Tomoe said while placing a reassuring hand on Ran's shoulder. Ako hurried over to open the door for the two right when Tomoe added, "Your Moca is waiting~"

"Honestly… I was fine with just submitting the necessary documents…" Ran muttered with a sigh, though her reaction elicited smiles from the other two in the room with her, "But since Moca wanted that ceremony so much…"

"Even after all this time, Ran's still the same as always~" Tomoe grinned, receiving a glare from Ran and a laugh from her sister.

Unfortunately for Ran, the glare wasn't very effective while Ran was already wearing that dress. It did, however, cause Tomoe to join Ako in laughing at Ran's expense before they all left.

* * *

In another room with a very specific person who was wearing a similar gown as Ran, things weren't going as smoothly as the other people there would have wanted.

"Where is it?! I know I put it here somewhere! Lisa-san! Hii-chan! Help!"

"Calm down, Moca, we'll find it together." Himari tried but to no avail. Moca was in a panic mode and was throwing everything in the room around in search for that special item. That special item that still remained nowhere to be found.

"Himari, that's not how you calm down somebody who's panicking…" Lisa chuckled before stepping up to Moca. Lisa placed both her hands on the younger woman's shoulders and shook her. With a calm and gentle voice, Lisa tried to get to Moca, "Moca, deep breaths. Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale…"

Moca was still struggling slightly to get away from Lisa's grip at first though, slowly but surely, she synchronized her breathing to Lisa's words. It was only a matter of time until Moca managed to calm herself down. With Lisa's help, of course.

"Thank you, Lisa-san… and sorry…" Moca added quickly as she lowered her head. Lisa waved off Moca's words, though, which Moca was thankful for.

It was only then that Moca remembered why she was panicking earlier in the first place.

"Where is it?" Moca asked as she looked around, though a lot calmer than earlier. Turning to her childhood friend, Moca asked, "Hii-chan! Have you taken anything that was here when Lisa was doing my hair and make-up?"

"Uh, I may have taken a small box that was on the shelf…" Himari admitted, trailing off as she pulled it out from her purse. Moca's eyes widened when she saw it and made a mad dash for the box. Himari didn't try to stop her, as she knew that it was Moca's by seeing Moca's reaction, and soon it was in its rightful owner's hands. With an apologetic look on her face, Himari added, "I'm sorry, Moca, I looked into it thinking that you may have forgotten to give your ring. Why is it so special to you—"

The words had barely left Himari's mouth when she realized the answer to her own question. She didn't need to hear Moca's reply anymore to know. And, judging from the way Lisa looked away painfully as well, neither did she.

"It's not mine…" Moca trailed off as she fumbled with the box, eventually taking out the simple yet elegant necklace. Moca took a few seconds to look at it with a pained look in her eyes before putting it on herself. Satisfied, she then turned to Himari with a wavering smile, "It's my mother's. It's the last that I have of her."

"Moca…" Himari breathed out, tears welling in her eyes as she knew how difficult of a subject it was for her childhood friend, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay~ Hii-chan couldn't possibly have known anyways~" Moca smiled, trying to brighten up the mood a little bit. Starting to make her way out, she looked over her shoulder and added, "Are you two coming? We can't make Ran wait _too_ long or she'll get grouchy. I mean, more grouchy than usual."

Suppressing a giggle, both Lisa and Himari caught up to Moca and walked on either side of her. They all knew where they were going next.

* * *

About an hour had passed, and Tomoe and Himari were currently in a small room outside of view to reconvene to get the others up to date. Tomoe and Himari had just entered after escorting Ran and Moca respectively when an exhausted Tsugumi walked in herself.

"I helped everybody get seated as we planned," Tsugumi panted, slightly out of breath at all the walking that she had been doing earlier. Looking up, she added, "Where are Ran-chan and Moca-chan? Shouldn't we have started by now?"

"There has been a slight problem…" Himari trailed off with an awkward smile, sharing a look with Tomoe whilst doing so, "Why don't you explain?"

"The rings are misplaced," Tomoe said matter-of-factly to Tsugumi who visibly deflated upon hearing the news, "We've found them again, but it is going to take a while to get them here. For now, we need to keep the guests pre-occupied until Ran and Moca are ready."

"And that is where you come in, Tsugu!" Himari picked up without missing a beat. Tsugumi turned to her with a surprised look, and even Tomoe seemed like she was caught off guard. Himari didn't let this bother her, however, "Go out there and say something funny to keep everybody distracted!"

"Say something funny… how?" Tsugumi asked, looking perplexed and not understanding what Himari was saying. Or why Himari suddenly broke into a giggling fit when Tsugumi finished.

"What Himari was _trying_ to say…" Tomoe began, bonking Himari on the top of her head and ignoring the yelp of pain and protests from her that followed, "Is that we need you to distract them. In whatever way possible. And you're the best at doing that, which is why we need you."

A short silence followed where Tsugumi was contemplating her options and Tomoe and Himari were looking on hopefully. Finally, Tsugumi sighed, "All right…"

"Thanks, Tsugu!" Himari cheered, patting Tsugumi on her shoulder before hurrying off. Tomoe wasn't far behind her but made sure to reassure Tsugumi that they only needed fifteen minutes at most.

"Fifteen minutes, huh? Right! I can do this!" Tsugumi tried to reassure herself as she took out something from her pocket. It was something that she had been saving for the right time, but… "This would be as good a time as any for this! Let's do this!"

* * *

Not long after, Tsugumi found herself shuffling to the front of the room. Everybody in the audience appeared to be slightly bored or looking around in anticipation. Tsugumi gulped, now more sure that she had to do what she was about to do.

But could she?

Tsugumi shook her head vigorously to rid herself of those thoughts and stepped up to the front. It wasn't about whether she could or couldn't. She was going to do it. The thing that only she, Hazawa Tsugumi of Afterglow, could do.

"Th-Thank you for coming, everybody!" Tsugumi began, her voice a bit shaky as she wasn't used to being the center of attention as much anymore. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she took out her cue cards and read, "A scar indicates that something is missing. You lost something important, and there is a hole in your heart. Having that empty hole can lead to anger, hate, despair or… it can make you reach for the sky."

"And today, we will see the two people who made me believe this more than anyone finally be officially together. Two people who, despite all the hardships that they have faced to get here, finally _did_ get here," Tsugumi finished, receiving some polite applause from the people present as she stored her cards in her pocket again. Turning to two of the doors in the building that were effectively opposite to one another, Tsugumi said loud and clear, "Mitake Ran-chan! Aoba Moca-chan! That is your cue!"

Everybody, Tsugumi included, looked at the two doors in question hopefully. But it was all in vain as nothing happened. It then hit Tsugumi that she might have been speaking too fast, so the fifteen minutes hadn't passed yet.

Clearing her throat and, a bit louder this time, Tsugumi tried again, "Mitake Ran-chan? Aoba Moca-chan? It's your turn!"

This time, however, something _did_ happen.

Both doors were opened so forcefully that they almost flew off their hinges. And while everybody knew who would be coming out from the doors, they weren't ready for what they were about to witness.

A collective gasp could be heard from the crowd when they finally _did_ find out.

* * *

 **I did my homework: the 'legal' way of marrying is by registering through submitting documents; a ceremony isn't 'necessary'. Adding this bit of trivia to clear up possible confusion regarding Ran's comment at the end of the first section of this chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and look forward to the next one! Please leave a review telling me what you thought of this chapter (bonus points if you include the 'why' in your review) and I will see you all next time! Take care!**


	2. The Silver Lining

**And here we are with the next chapter of this collection series. Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Just as a reminder for those who don't know and haven't checked my profile yet: guest reviews will be responded on the falneou17 Tumblr.**

 **Disclaimer: I own BanG Dream. I also voice Matsubara Kanon… … … oh, I thought we were listing things that were obviously false… never mind then…**

* * *

"…hara-san?"

No response from the person who was being addressed and five pairs of eyes turned to a certain someone. With a soft gulp, the black-haired girl tried again.

"Ue…Uehara-san?"

"Ah!" Himari's shout startled everybody, but nobody more so than the girl who tried to get her attention, "I'm sorry, I must still be feeling a little sick."

"That is okay, do not super apologize," a girl with short brown hair wearing an orange hoodie said in almost a monotone, reassuring Himari in her own way before turning to someone else, "Rinko, can you please super make sure that Himari gets the help that she super needs? We will take super care of this project until the two of you are back."

"R-Right!" the black haired girl who tried to get Himari's attention, Rinko, said as she stood up from her chair. Turning to Himari, she added, "Le-Let's go, Uehara-san."

"Sorry, everyone…" Himari muttered before following her senior and now close friend.

Several months had passed since Himari had graduated from Haneoka Girls' High School, and a lot has been going on. Fortunately for the former bassist of Afterglow, she seemed to have gotten the better end of the stick. Not only has she been happy and healthy, she also got accepted to her first choice university without much trouble.

And when Himari finally got there, she found to her pleasant surprise that her senior and friend Shirokane Rinko was there as well. Mainly thanks to their connection in the past, they have grown closer here.

"Rinko-san, can we sit here for a while?" Himari asked her friend when the pair passed an empty bench. While surprised, Rinko didn't object to the request and sat down beside Himari.

This led them to stay in a somewhat uncomfortable silence as Himari didn't know how to begin and Rinko didn't want to start. Rinko knew that, whatever was on Himari's mind, Himari needed to talk about it on her own terms.

"Rinko-san… there's something that I want to tell you…" Himari finally breathed out, breaking the silence that had lingered between them for several minutes now, "It's about an old friend of mine."

Rinko nodded, smiling softly. Her time as Roselia's keyboardist has done wonders for her self-confidence, but even now she could feel herself shaking. Mentally forcing herself to toughen up as she knew that her friend needed her now more than ever, Rinko waited for Himari to continue.

"We've… been friends since childhood, and even though she used to mess around with me a lot, I know that she was a good person and an amazing friend," Himari began with a pang of sadness and hurt in her voice. Rinko only nodded, indicating that she had heard her, but didn't say anything in fear of interrupting, "And it is only now that I realize just how important she was to keep us together. A few years ago, another friend of mine ended up in the hospital and it nearly broke us all apart… but I think… that this time…"

"Uehara-san…"

"What am I supposed to do, Rinko-san?" Himari cried out desperately, her eyes starting to fill with tears as she turned to her friend, "My other friends either disappeared or don't answer me anymore. Am I… not good enough? Not good enough of a friend…? Of a person…? Is that why everybody left?"

"That… that is not true, Uehara-san," Rinko said, her voice faltering slightly though she managed to keep it somewhat steady, "I am sure that Uehara-san's friends still… still love Uehara-san for who Uehara-san is. But… But this might just be a hard time for not just Uehara-san but also for all of Uehara-san's friends. Aoba-san getting hurt like that… like that in front of everyone… it must be shocking for everybody."

"You're right…" Himari breathed out in amazement, almost as if that possibility never occurred to her before. But one thing was still worrying the former bassist, and she was quick to voice it, "What should I do now, Rinko-san? I can't just go out there and try to get everybody together again. Have you ever been in this situation before, Rinko-san?"

"Not… Not exactly like Uehara-san…" Rinko admitted slowly, much to Himari's visible disappointment. This prompted Rinko to quickly add, "But there was… there was a time when Ako-chan and I didn't talk for several days. It was hor… horrible…"

Now it was Himari's turn to listen intently, though this did give poor Rinko more nerves. Rinko tried to ignore this, however, feeling that telling her story was much more important. Not just for her but for Himari as well.

"There was a… quest in the game Ako-chan and I were playing," Rinko began as she tried to remember how everything turned out all those years ago, "What we didn't… didn't know was that it was a PvP event—"

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Himari cut in suddenly with an apologetic smile, "But… 'PvP'?"

"Ah… it is short for… Player vs Player… it means we play against other players… at the same time…" Rinko explained and, much to her relief, saw that Himari nodded. Hoping this meant that she did a good enough job at explaining it, Rinko continued with her story, "We… did not know how the event… was organized… The teams were… randomly selected… and Ako-chan and I ended up on different teams…"

"And it didn't go very well?" Himari asked, though remembering the stories that the short drummer had told her in the past she already knew the answer.

"It did not, no…" Rinko admitted with a sad look on her face as she shook her head slowly, "We were… paired up to fight… in the first round… and Ako-chan did not speak with me… for three days… after that…"

"Oh no…" Himari grimaced before she realized something she probably should have a while ago, "But wait… Rinko-san, this is different! I know Rinko-san must have gone through a lot but this isn't a game! Someone actually physically and emotionally got hurt and we've all been apart ever since!"

"Uehara-san… you did not… let me finish yet…" Rinko said, almost in a shocked voice. Upon realizing her mistake, Himari apologized profusely, though Rinko tried to wave away her words of apology, "It is all right… but what I wanted to say… what I wanted to tell you, Uehara-san… is that everything will be all right… one day, Uehara-san will be able… to smile together with the rest of Uehara-san's band… because right now, Ako-chan and I—"

"Rinrin~! Hii-chan~!"

A sudden cheerful yet familiar cry came from somewhere behind the two friends, and both looked up to see a pair of purple-colored pigtails. Only one person came to both of their minds when they saw those.

"Ako-chan!"

True to the simultaneous calls of both Rinko and Himari, Ako turned up with a bright grin as she turned to both of her friends, "Hi, Rinrin, it's been a while! Do you mind if Ako takes Hii-chan with her?"

"Eh? Eh? Why?" Himari asked as she looked between the two musicians from Afterglow's rival band, Roselia. The looks on either of their faces didn't really give Himari a hint as to what they were talking about.

"Hii-chan, Ako thought your signature cheer went 'Ei, Ei, Oh!', not 'Eh? Eh? Why?'" Ako said in a teasing sing-song voice, causing a giggle to escape from Rinko's lips as Himari just stood there, wide-eyed. Ako laughed before trying to explain the situation, "Ako is just teasing, Hii-chan."

"Jeez… You spent way too much time with—" Himari began in complaint, but stopped herself. No, she couldn't say it yet. The memories were still too painful for her and Himari closed her eyes shut in an effort to keep her emotions in check.

Himari looked up in shock when she felt a gentle hand on either of her shoulders.

"That is why Ako is here. Not for Rinrin, but for you, Hii-chan," Ako said in a surprisingly serious tone as she looked Himari in the eyes. Himari could even see Rinko nod a couple of times in her periphery, and couldn't help but feel blessed that she had such great friends, "Ako needed to get you! Let's go, already!"

"Eh? Right now, but—?!" Himari asked in a panic as she looked between Ako and Rinko. More to Rinko due to the group project they had to complete by the end of the week, but Rinko shook her head when she saw Himari look at her.

"It is okay… Uehara-san…" Rinko tried to reassure Himari, "I will tell the others… you had to go home and rest… we can take care of this."

"All right… thank you, Rinko-san." Himari nodded gratefully before turning to follow Ako. It wasn't long until they were already out of sight for Rinko.

This left Rinko alone to hope and pray that whatever Ako was planning would be enough to help Himari. But she wasn't alone for long when a familiar figure appeared beside her.

"So, you think this will help?" the newcomer asked Rinko as the two of them started to walk back to the rest of Rinko's group, "I mean, I want to trust in Ako but are we sure that she knows what she is doing?"

"I believe in Ako-chan…" Rinko said confidently with a determined nod, "If Ako-chan says that she knows something… then we have to trust her. It might be… Uehara-san's only form of help."

"I guess you're right…"

"And what about… Aoba-san…?" Rinko asked as she held the door open for her friend. Once the two of them were inside, Rinko added, "Did Imai-san managed… to help her…?"

"I can't do a lot for her right now, unfortunately," Rinko's friend, Lisa, admitted with a sad smile. As the brunette tried to suppress the memories of her former colleague, she turned to Rinko, "Moca isn't doing all that well, though she tries to convince everybody around her that she is. She's as stubborn as Yukina or Sayo, if not more so, which makes it quite tricky."

Rinko suppressed a giggle at this comment, remembering how her bandmates used to be. But Lisa wasn't done with her story just yet, "She managed to convince me to let her stay over at my place after she is discharged, so she will at least have somebody to look after her."

* * *

Unbeknownst to either Rinko or Lisa, the pair of Ako and Himari had already made a lot of progress on their own little journey. And now, in the middle of an unfamiliar street for Himari, Ako had stopped the two of them.

"Hii-chan must have had it rough," Ako muttered, making sure to keep her face hidden from view. Himari, who had previously been trying to figure out where she was, was now listening intently to Ako to see what the shorter girl wanted to say, "That a friend got hurt in front of her… the rest of her group of friends all breaking off and going on their own individual ways…"

"Where are you going with this, Ako-chan?" Himari asked carefully, genuinely curious but not wanting to accidentally offend her. This wasn't like Ako at all. Her curiosity was even strong enough to make her ignore the pain of being reminded of her past.

Something that Ako took note of.

"Ako is telling you to get it together!" Ako announced, pointing an accusing finger straight at Himari's face, flinching the former bassist. Ako, however, did not skip a beat, "Where is the caring and loving Hii-chan that Ako has grown to know? Aren't you supposed to be the band coordinator? Isn't it your job to make sure that everybody stays together?!"

Himari fell silent as she allowed Ako's word to resonate with her.

"Stays together?! Stays together? Together… Togeth—"

"I heard you the first time, Ako-chan!" Himari exclaimed before apologizing for the tone that she had used. Even so, Himari had to admit that Ako was, somehow, making a lot of sense.

And Himari knew exactly what she had to be doing now. What she should have been doing from the very beginning.

"I can't believe I was this blind…!" Himari groaned, her hands in her hair ready to mess it all up. Ako silently let Himari drown in her self-pity, ready to move in again if Himari were to show signs of letting the self-pity consume her.

Fortunately for both girls, this did not happen.

"Thank you, Ako-chan…" Himari finally said after a silence of several minutes. Ako smiled as Himari wiped her eyes, the shorter of the two confident that the other finally understood, "But if you could make me understand, why bring me all the way here for help? Weren't you going to take me to see someone who would help me?"

"Ako took you somewhere where someone helped you understand, didn't she?" Ako answered Himari's question with a question of her own, a small smirk playing on her lips as the words left her mouth.

Himari was left standing there perplexed. Ako wasn't wrong; she _did_ bring Himari to a place where she would get help from someone, but it was definitely not what Himari had in mind. Though this did raise a question in Himari's mind.

"But why did you bring me all the way here if you could have told me all that anywhere else?" Himari asked. Much to her surprise, it seemed like Ako was expecting this question from her.

"Ako needs to ask you a big favor, but this isn't the place to talk about that," Ako admitted with a sad smile, "Follow me, Ako will take you where we need to be."

Himari, curious what was going on but being respectful and not pushing the subject, followed her friend into the unknown.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	3. A Blue Flower Wedding (Part 2)

**And we're back with an oddity: a chapter that is directly related to a chapter that has already been published! In this chapter's case, it is a direct continuation of chapter 1.**

 **Disclaimer! Well, we all know what would happen to BlueFlora's status in canon if I actually _did_ own BanG Dream! right?**

* * *

Clearing her throat and, a bit louder this time, Tsugumi tried again, "Mitake Ran-chan? Aoba Moca-chan? It's your turn!"

This time, however, something _did_ happen.

Both doors were opened so forcefully that they almost flew off their hinges. And while everybody knew who would be coming out from the doors, they weren't ready for what they were about to witness.

A collective gasp could be heard from the crowd when they finally _did_ find out.

Even Tsugumi, who was there when Ran and Moca had their gowns made, was in awe at what she saw. The brunette was expecting a lot, but what she actually got to see surpassed even her expectations.

Ran entered the room through the door on Tsugumi's right, escorted by her father and clearly trying her hardest to avoid the gazes that were on her. With Ran's eyes focused on the ground so as to not accidentally trip and fall on the high-heeled shoes that she was wearing, she slowly but surely made it to the center of the room.

Ran herself was wearing the same white gown that Tomoe had helped her in, and Tsugumi was shocked just how well it fitted her. The contrast between Ran's black hair and the pure white gown that she was wearing was stunning. Her hair, that was usually let down, was pulled into a low ponytail with several strands of hair on either side of Ran's face let down to frame it.

Tsugumi was spending so much time watching Ran that she didn't realize that Ran wasn't the center of attention. When Tsugumi tried to look around to find out why she soon found her answer when her eyes landed on her other soon-to-be-married childhood friend.

Moca, interestingly enough, had chosen a gown design that was almost identical to Ran's, and it suited her just as much as Ran's did for Ran. Unlike Ran, Moca had chosen to let her hair down for the occasion but wore several hairpins in her hair to keep it all in place. Tsugumi smiled, recognizing those pins as Himari's.

But the way that Moca looked wasn't why everybody was focusing on her. The eyes of many in the crowd were actually on the person who was escorting Moca: Moca's long-time friend Lisa. Slight murmurs arose from the crowd, and while Tsugumi was unable to hear exactly what they were saying from her position, she was confident she already knew.

'In the end… not that many people know…' Tsugumi thought to herself with a pang of hurt and sadness in her heart. She shrugged this thought off of her mind and just watched as her friends came closer with every step.

Once Ran and Moca reached the center, Ran's father, Lisa, and Tsugumi all left to take their respective seats. Ran's father sat in the front row, Tsugumi sat in between Tomoe and Himari, and Lisa sat in the row behind them by her bandmates from high school.

A short moment of silence followed where Ran and Moca were both just fumbling around uncomfortably in their own ways in the middle of the room. In the center of attention. With over thirty people watching their every move.

Much longer than what should have taken him, a certain man stepped up seemingly out of nowhere. He was suddenly behind the soon-to-be-married couple, startling even Moca in the process.

But then they both realized _who_ the man actually was.

"Wait, isn't that…?"

"It is…" came a groaned whisper as a certain someone dug her face into the palms of her hands in both embarrassment and agony.

"I welcome you all today on this beautiful bright morning, and thank you all for coming," the man began with a bright smile of his own, addressing not just Ran and Moca but seemingly every single person in the room, "We have gathered here today to see this lovely couple in front of me be joined in marriage, and their first step to spending the rest of their lives together and overcoming even more obstacles than ever before as a single union!"

For some reason, the way he said it all caused Himari to giggle, and the people around her heard a muffled 'He really _is_ like her!' from her direction.

"If there is anyone in this room who can show that these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," the man paused, waiting for a response that he knew would never come. After a full minute had passed, he smiled and turned to the person on his right with a look in his eyes that was scarily familiar, "Mitake Ran, will you have Aoba Moca to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?"

"I will." Ran nodded in response, not a shred of hesitation visible in either her voice or her body language. This caused both a smile to form on both the man's as well as on Moca's lips, but quite likely for different reasons.

"And will you, Aoba Moca, have Mitake Ran to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage?" the man turned to Moca, making sure that she knew that he was talking to her, "Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?"

"I will." Moca smiled as she kept her gaze on Ran, not once looking away so that her partner could know. Know that Moca meant it as much as she did, if not more so.

"Very well, we will now proceed with the exchanging of the vows," the man continued before turning to the person on his right first once again, "Mitake Ran, if you please."

"Right…" Ran began, her voice trembling slightly as she reminded herself what she had to do. There was, however, no hesitance in her voice when she continued, "Moca, no matter what happened, you were always there. You always had my back, even when I didn't deserve it. When I made the biggest mistake of my life, you waited for me despite not knowing when I would be back. Or even whether I'd be back."

"And now I finally opened my eyes to the truth and to the future," Ran took a momentary pause to look Moca straight in the eyes. A Moca who, for the first time since Ran met her, was speechless. Ran suppressed the urge to comment on that, knowing full well that she had to finish; so finish her vow was what she did, "And all I see is you, Moca. And I will make sure that that is all that I see if you want to let me."

A short silence fell in the room as everybody listened to Ran speak. It took Ran clearing her throat for everybody, the man wedding her and Moca included, to get back to reality.

"Aoba Moca? It is now your turn."

"There is no way that I can beat Ran's vow after she's said all of that~" Moca chuckled lightly and a couple people laughed at her answer. Some could even be seen wondering whether she had not prepared for this at all, but those who knew Moca knew better. They knew that she had something ready for just this moment.

Their expectations were met when Moca picked back up again.

"We've… been through a lot together, now haven't we Ran? Good times… bad times… Ran knows what I am talking about more than anyone," Moca smiled, though Ran could see the hidden truth in Moca's eyes, "But if it means being able to be with you then I will gladly do it all again a million times over. And even if you believe that everyone is against you, know that I'll always be by your side. For as long as Ran wants me to, I will be with you!"

What happened next was all a blur for both Ran and Moca. Having both spoken their own vows and heard the vows of the other, it already felt like it was just the two of them in the world. Neither of them fully processing what was being said or what everyone else was doing. All that mattered was that they were together, and all that was in their way was the time it took for them to hear the words—

"I now pronounce you wife and wife."

These words shocked Ran back to reality, almost forgetting that she was still on the altar. She looked to the person in front of her and, by the looks of it, Moca had zoned out as well.

"Ran, Moca…" a warm, gentle voice came from Ran's left and, looking up, she saw a brightly smiling face, "You may kiss."

Ran soon learned that Moca didn't need to be told that twice. Under a loud explosion of cheers as everybody got on their feet, Ran embraced Moca as the two shared the kiss that would be their first of many.

It was only when they finally parted that Ran noticed the ring that was on her ring finger. She chuckled, realizing how inattentive she must have been.

"Hey, Ran~" Moca whispered in Ran's ear, startling Ran slightly but not as much as she would have been back in their high school years, "For when we throw the bouquet…"

"What about it?" Ran asked with a raised eyebrow, trying to think where Moca was going with this. Unfortunately for Ran, marrying Moca didn't mean that she could read her any better. Not yet, anyway.

"Let's try to throw it at someone so that she will catch it~ And I know exactly who~" Moca added quickly with a smirk that Ran recognized all too well. Moca leaned forward to whisper something in Ran's ear again before leaning back to eagerly wait for a response.

"… All right, I guess we could." Ran finally said, slightly hesitant at first. Her hesitation vanished, however, when she saw the look on Moca's face.

"On three, we throw it at her together~," Moca said, holding the bouquet with one hand and waiting for Ran to hold it too. When Ran did, Moca started the countdown, "One… two… three!"

Well before Ran had grabbed a hold of the bouquet, a large group of young women had rushed forward to try and get a better chance at catching it. Both Ran and Moca could even see some familiar faces in the crowd, including Himari pushing to be at the front and, surprising them both, Tsugumi as well, causing Moca to chuckle.

Everything went just as she had hoped.

With a huge arc, the bouquet of flowers that was specially handpicked from the Mitake Flower Arrangement School flew past the crowd in front the newlyweds and landed in the lap of one of the few who didn't rush forward.

And then there was silence…

* * *

Some time had passed since the wedding ceremony had finished, and the newlywed couple had managed to regroup with their friends in a quiet area again.

"Moca-chan! Ran-chan! Congratulations once again on your wedding!" Tsugumi said cheerfully as she gave Ran a hug that was, surprisingly, returned without delay.

"Yeah, what Tsugu-chin said!" Ako chimed in as she took the opportunity to hug Moca who gladly returned it. Letting go, Ako turned to her sister who was still slightly flustered, "I want to go find dad and tell him he did a good job with today's wedding. Do you want to come too, Onee-chan?"

"Please don't remind me, Ako…" Tomoe whimpered as she remembered the way her father talked. Now, any questions that anyone had as to why Ako spoke the way she did would have surely been answered.

"All right, I will just tell dad that you said 'hi' then," Ako said as she looked around to get her bearings right, "I also have to find Rinrin and congratulate her for catching the bouquet. Now if I were Rinrin, where would I be…?"

Before anyone knew it, Ako had left the five childhood friends alone in a prolonged silence that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.

"I know this is sort of a cliché question to be asking," Himari began, starting to get fidgety and deciding a conversation was needed, "But what are you two going to do now?"

"Isn't that obvious? We still have that dance," surprising Himari, it was actually Ran who responded to her, though Himari wasn't the only one to be caught off guard. When Ran received disbelieving looks from the people around her, _all_ the people around her, she added, "What? It's true, isn't it?"

"It's just that it's not like you to be so into something like this…" Himari muttered, receiving nods of agreements.

"I agree~"

"Even you, Moca…?" Ran trailed off in disbelief as she turned to her spouse—wife. With a groan, and ignoring the laughter that she was receiving from her friends, she grabbed Moca by the arm and walked off, "Let-Let's get going already. We're supposed to open the dance."

"Oooo~kaaaaaay~," Moca said in a sing-song voice, allowing herself to get dragged off without any sign of resistance. This left the other three members of Afterglow behind.

"They're going to be just fine, aren't they?" Himari asked as she watched Moca and Ran walk off in the distance. She had the happiest smile on her face and, even without looking, Himari knew that she wasn't the only one.

"Of course they will be!" Tsugumi responded cheerfully, and neither Himari or Tomoe could say that they felt any different, "They've gone through so much already, but now that is all behind them. Besides, they will always have each other."

"We might want to hurry to catch up to them, though. They're already quite far ahead!" Tomoe exclaimed suddenly, only then noticing just how far it actually was. Without a second thought, she started to try and close the distance, with Tsugumi and Himari not too far behind her.

Meanwhile, as Tsugumi, Himari, and Tomoe were rushing forward to catch up to them, Moca held the necklace that she had been wearing in an open palm.

"Mama… Papa… I… am in the best possible hands." Moca muttered softly before holding her hand near her heart with a small smile. This did not go unnoticed by Ran, however.

"Moca?" Ran asked with a worried look on her face, "Everything all right?"

"Yup~ Couldn't be better~" Moca responded as she snuggled closer to Ran. Ran was startled but did not object at the sudden sign of affection. With a content sigh, Moca added, "I love you, Ran."

"I love you too, Moca."

* * *

 **Oh, the fluff. Who knew that actually writing out a wedding chapter would take so long? And even here I felt like I somewhat sort of rushed it a bit.**

 **On another note: I know that Ako calls herself in third-person (as what I did with her last chapter), but I think it would be safe to assume that with the time skip between The Times We Lost and this chapter that she would have learned to use a 'proper' form to address herself (i.e. "Watashi" or even "Atashi").**

 **Oh well, I hope you all enjoyed it regardless of that, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	4. The Memories

**And the next chapter in this collection series~ I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well! Just as a reminder that this story is on a biweekly update schedule for the duration of November only.**

 **I do not own BanG Dream!, no…**

* * *

"Onee-chan!"

"Go away."

"Onee-chan, please!"

"I don't want any!"

"Onee-chan, let me in!"

And it's because this continuous back and forth was getting on her nerves, not to mention the constant pounding on the door not helping much in that regard, that Udagawa Tomoe finally opened the door to her bedroom. The first time in days that she revealed herself to the outside world, and not a moment too soon in her sister's opinion.

"Really, Onee-chan, why don't you—" Ako began with a huff of annoyance as she stepped into the room, though the younger Udagawa stopped mid-sentence when she saw the state of the room that her sister was living in.

Tomoe's room looked like a tornado had its way in it for hours; not a single area of the floor was visible under the blanket of strewn about clothes. The bed was messy and unmade and had yellow stains of grease in it that Ako did not want to know the origins of.

But what caught Ako's attention the most was what was in the corner of the room. The part of Tomoe's room that was used to store Tomoe's not-so-secret secret stash of cup ramen was now used to house a fort made out of empty cup ramen!

Ako somehow managed to suppress the urge to run over and be all giddy about it in favor of more important issues at hand.

"Onee-chan, we both know that you can't keep going like this," Ako scolded, trying to sound serious and intimidating but still wavered at the idea that she was scolding her older sister. She also silently cursed her height, knowing full well that she wouldn't be very intimidating looking _up_ at Tomoe.

Tomoe, for her part, did not even flinch at Ako's accusation. The only form of response that she gave the younger Udagawa was a simple shrug.

"What's the point?" Tomoe mumbled in a voice that sounded a lot more defeated than Ako was used to hearing from her precious and emotionally strong older sister. The younger of the two could only watch painfully as Tomoe slumped back down on her bed and, with a deep sigh, added in a soft voice, "I'm sorry, Ako…"

"Onee-chan…" Ako breathed out, not knowing whether to shuffle closer to try and comfort her sister or to give her her space. Keeping her distance, Ako made up her mind, "All right… Ako is off to see Rinrin then, does Onee-chan want anything while Ako is out?"

"Some more cup ramen would be nice," Tomoe replied with a dry chuckle, causing Ako to smile slightly. Ako smiled even more when Tomoe lifted her head up and locked eyes with her, "Thank you, Ako."

"All right, Ako is off then~," Ako said her goodbyes, gently closing the door behind her and leaving Tomoe alone in her room once again.

There wasn't a lot of movement going on in Tomoe's room after Ako had left, even when five minutes gradually rolled over into half an hour. But for everything, even for Tomoe, would come a first…

Tomoe stood up with a determined look in her eyes, walking towards the desk in the corner of the room and picked up the pair of scissors that lay on top. Tomoe, however, didn't do anything with them; she just ended up staring at it for a long time.

This was where she hesitated. She didn't want to do this, and she never thought that she would. Somehow, her mind chose that exact moment to replay a certain memory for her. This, however, was all the confirmation that Tomoe needed to reassure her of what she was about to do.

Tomoe bundled up her hair in her hand and cut straight through it with the scissors in one smooth motion, making her hair barely reached her shoulders now. It was a rough job and she would probably need to have it tidied up at a later time, but it did the job… for now… And that was all that Tomoe cared about.

"It might be wishful thinking…" Tomoe muttered to herself, slowly making her way to her already overflowing trash can and throwing the remains of her hair in there, "But maybe this way… we can return to how we once were… just… maybe…"

"Ran…" Tomoe muttered, clenching both of her fists as the memories started to resurface yet again, "Why did this all have to happen after we fought like that…?"

And then everything went black for Tomoe…

* * *

 _"All right, that was a good practice session, wouldn't you all agree?"_

 _"Moca-chan, what do you think?"_

 _"I think we did well~ Let's celebrate with a visit to the bakery~"_

 _The five childhood friends had just finished rehearsing one of their songs for their upcoming live on their graduation day and were now discussing what to do next. One of them, however, didn't look all that excited._

 _"…Ran?" Tomoe asked carefully, being the first to notice. The drummer's voice also caught the attention of the other three members, prompting them all to focus on them._

 _"You guys can go on ahead," Ran muttered, picking her guitar back up again and strumming a few chords in preparation, "I want to practice some more."_

 _"Ran, you also need your rest," Himari tried, not being the only one to have seen the red warning flags, "Practicing is good and all, but it won't be very helpful if you get sick because you don't take good care of yourself."_

 _"This… isn't good enough. No, far from it…" Ran said as she clenched her fists. The other girls were left speechless as Ran picked up her things and went back to practice. Ran didn't even look at them when she added, "You can all go home first if you want, but I want to stay here for a bit longer."_

 _"Ran!" Tomoe exclaimed but, much to her annoyance was ignored. That was when Tomoe noticed that Ran wasn't the only one who looked like she was staying a bit longer, "Moca, what are you—?"_

 _"If Ran wants to practice a bit more then I guess it can't be helped," Moca responded to Tomoe's unfinished question by interrupting the redhead herself. Picking up her own guitar, she turned to Tomoe with a small smile, "Tomo-chin and the others can go home first, there is still a part that I want to practice a bit more. It's a good chance for me to do so if Ran is staying longer anyway."_

 _"But… … fine." Tomoe finally relented, slinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving almost immediately, "Don't push yourself too hard. Both of you."_

* * *

 _"Do you think they will be all right?" Himari asked as she walked back home with the people who chose to call it a day._

 _"If Ran-chan wants to practice more then we can't really do anything," Tsugumi said, recalling that time when she was pushing herself too much two years ago. With an awkward chuckle, she added, "I mean, I guess if anyone can't say anything it would be me."_

 _"Tsugu…"_

 _"Ran wants to push herself, fine, that's her choice," Tomoe grumbled exasperatedly, startling both Himari and Tsugumi, "Moca was better than anyone today, so why would she of all people think she needs to practice more? Ran doesn't realize she's dragging Moca down with her."_

 _The other two girls fell silent, both having realized Moca's true intention from the start. After all, they've all been such close friends for so long, it would be a surprise if they didn't realize it sooner._

 _Especially since it has already happened before._

 _"Did either of you notice the state that Moca was in when she joined Ran?" Tomoe asked the other two, both nodding grimly in response. Tomoe stopped mid-stride as she thought of what was happening, deciding to think out loud to let her friends follow along, "Moca looked exhausted herself, but stayed. Why would she—"_

 _"Tomoe-chan?" Tsugumi asked carefully, noticing the change in Tomoe's stance when Tomoe had abruptly stopped. Himari noticed this too, but she didn't react as fast as Tsugumi did._

 _"I'm heading back!" Tomoe exclaimed suddenly, turning on her heel and sprinting back to the studio as fast as she could before either Tsugumi or Himari could respond._

 _This left Tsugumi and Himari alone to wonder what Tomoe was doing._

* * *

 _"Ran!"_

 _The door to the studio was thrown open and in stepped a slightly out of breath but still very livid Tomoe. The sudden sound and entrance of the redhead startled both girls who were inside._

 _"Tomo-chin…" Moca breathed out, her hands on her heart as she playfully glared at her friend, "You almost gave poor Moca-chan a heart attack there~ Be more careful please~"_

 _"Mitake Ran!" Tomoe called, completely ignoring Moca's comment as she turned to the vocalist, "We need to talk!"_

 _"Tomoe…" Ran looked to be recovering from her own shock as well, but didn't seem to be too fazed by her friend's entrance, "I already told you, I'm not happy with the practice runs and I need to improve."_

 _"That's not what I'm talking about, Ran," Tomoe sighed as she searched through her bag before throwing something over to Moca, "Moca, measure your temperature."_

 _"My… temperature…?" Moca repeated slowly, to which Tomoe nodded in response. Instead of doing what she was told, Moca ended up laughing. It started out soft and low, but gradually picked up until the sound of her laughter reverberated in the room. A laugh that started to creep the other two girls, Moca noticed, so she stopped…_

 _Only to replace it with an even creepier smile before turning to Tomoe, "Tomo-chin realized, didn't she~? Well done, Tomo-chin~ Well done~"_

 _"Realized… what…?" Ran asked in a daze, but then it dawned on her, "Moca, don't tell me…!"_

 _"Sorry, Ran, but it is as you fear~" Moca smiled as she pulled out her phone and showed her two friends the photo that she took earlier that morning. The photo only showed a hand holding a thermometer, and the numbers on the device read—_

 _"Thirty-nine?!" Ran exclaimed in shock, rushing over to a faltering Moca and catching her before she fell on the ground. Ran placed her hand on Moca's forehead and, much to her horror, felt her best friend's face heat up again, "Why didn't you say anything sooner?!"_

 _"Now do you understand, Ran?"_

 _Ran looked up to see Tomoe looking down on her in more ways than one. And, for once, Ran knew that she was at fault here._

 _"Your actions don't just affect you, I thought you would have learned that by now," Tomoe said off-handedly while looking through her own phone, but the venom in her voice was still very much there. Tomoe's voice softened considerably, however, when she added, "Moca, you can stay over at my place until you get better."_

 _"But—" Moca tried, her vision getting hazy as she tried to sit up straight to address Tomoe. This time it was Tomoe's turn to not let Moca finish her sentence._

 _"Ako is off on a training camp with the other members of her band, so you can stay in her room," Tomoe cut in, knowing full well what Moca was about to ask. Taking her bag and about to leave the room, she added, "I'm going to call my parents and see if they can pick us up. Ran, watch over Moca while I'm gone. And_ don't _make things worse."_

 _And with that, the last thing that Tomoe saw was Ran holding Moca close to her with a guilt-ridden and ashamed look on her face._

* * *

Tomoe got woken up from her trance-like state when she heard the doorbell ring; something that the redhead found odd. Her parents were out on a business trip right now, and the only person who would come here is—

With a grunt, Tomoe got back on her feet, dusted and smoothened her clothes the best she could so she could at least look _somewhat_ presentable and went off to the front door.

Tomoe did not know what she was expecting when she opened the door, but this was certainly not it.

"Onee-chan, Ako is home~" Ako cheered in a sing-song voice before she abruptly stopped. With her gaze focused on Tomoe's new but horrendous hairstyle, she exclaimed, "Onee-chan! What happened to your hair?!"

But Tomoe didn't respond to Ako's question. No, Tomoe's attention was all on the person who was standing behind Ako.

A person Tomoe didn't think she would see so soon.

"Himari…"

"Hi, Tomoe… It's been a while, huh?"

* * *

 **Yes, as I've brought up in the first chapter, these chapters _do_ connect in one way or another (if not with each other then with the main story). It's just that they may or may not be uploaded in chronological order.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	5. Despair

**And here we are once again with a new chapter! Just as a reminder once again that there will be no chapter next week; this story will be back on a weekly schedule as of the second of December. Thank you for your understanding and patience, and enjoy the chapter!**

 **Also, apologies for the half-day delay; as was said on my Tumblr, I didn't have any internet with which to access this site until ten minutes ago.**

 **Disclaimer! I do not own BanG Dream! nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

It was quiet. Very quiet.

The sun started to rise, illuminating the deserted streets below and signaling the start of a brand new bright day. At this hour of the day, it was very unusual for the streets to be as quiet as it was. Whether there were adults going to work or children heading off to school, there was always _some_ sort of commotion going on, so the fact that there was nobody out was unsettling.

Fortunately, it wasn't long until a certain someone made her presence known.

A young woman, not likely to be much older than eighteen, walked out of her house and made her way to a familiar place. She knew it was a wasted effort; she was well aware of this fact even without all the words from the people in her life. Even so, she couldn't help but allow her feet to drag her to that place again.

"Welcome!" a cheerful call was made as the ring of the bell indicated the presence of the visitor. The person behind the cashier looked up, her smile faltering slightly once she realized who was the visitor, "Oh, Eve-chan, welcome. You know you don't have a shift today, right?"

"Good morning, Mrs. Hazawa." Eve returned the welcome politely after taking off her jacket. As she smoothened out her hair, Eve continued, "And yes, I know. I was looking for Tsugumi-san, do you know where she is? We were supposed to hang out today."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen Tsugumi all day," Mrs. Hazawa responded with a sad smile, "Maybe she is still asleep? It's not like her to still be asleep at this hour, though…"

As Mrs. Hazawa gave Eve an answer, her husband, Mr. Hazawa, came down the stairs and into the café as well. Eve silently greeted him and waited patiently for another response from Mrs. Hazawa, but it was not Mrs. Hazawa who continued the conversation. Eve was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Hazawa turned to her and offered her something.

"Here, Tsugumi's room is the third door on the right," He said with a smile as he placed a small key in Eve's hands, "I give you permission to go in her room if she doesn't answer, and if Tsugumi asks anything you can tell her I said that. You can give the key to Tsugumi when you see her after that, she knows where to return it to."

"You can count on me!" Eve nodded, both happy and honored to see that she was so trusted in the Hazawa household. With a quick bow, Eve hurried off to the stairs that she saw Mr. Hazawa come down from and went up.

This left only Tsugumi's parents in the café, and Mrs. Hazawa turned to her husband with a sad smile. Careful to keep her voice low as she didn't know if Eve was still within hearing distance, she said, "Eve-chan doesn't know, does she?"

"It has only been a week since that day," her husband responded in a matter-of-fact tone, "I don't think Tsugumi has recovered from the shock yet, either, and Eve wasn't there because she had a graduation party of her own at her own school, remember? I just hope that Eve can help Tsugumi…"

"I do, too, Dear… I do, too…"

* * *

While the first and second floors were for the customers, the third floor of the café was where the Hazawa family lived. Eve had known this for years, despite never coming up here, but she had always expected the residence floor to be something extraordinary.

Instead, it was as normal as it could be.

Slightly disappointed upon founding this out, Eve started to walk towards the door of the room she knew was Tsugumi's. When she reached it, she couldn't suppress a smile from forming. The nameplate that was on the door read Tsugumi's name, but what had caught Eve's attention was that it was decorated with many small little birds trying to fly high into the air.

"How fitting of Tsugumi-san." Eve giggled softly to herself before remembering why she was here in the first place. Her mood suddenly plummeted when she did, and Eve whispered softly, "I'm sorry for lying to you, Mrs. Hazawa."

In actuality, Eve didn't have an appointment with Tsugumi today. As a matter of fact, she hadn't been able to reach the brunette since Eve's graduation day; the very same day when Tsugumi was supposed to be playing in a live with the rest of her band. And, having gotten increasingly worried, Eve decided to just see if she could get to Tsugumi in person.

"Tsugumi-san, are you there? It's me, Wakamiya Eve," Eve said as she knocked a couple of times on the door before she waited for a response. Fifteen minutes quickly passed with nothing happening, and Eve eventually gave in to her worries and curiosity. Eve inserted the key rather clumsily and, as she opened the door, tried to call out again, "Tsugumi-san, I'm coming in."

Eve heard the familiar clicking sound of an unlocking door before gulping nervously. As she slowly opened the door Eve was met with something she had been expecting but wasn't quite happy that her expectations came true.

The blinds were closed, keeping the room in almost complete darkness despite it already starting to be late in the morning. Eve couldn't make out anything that was in the room, but she still managed to somehow see something move in the corner when it did move.

"Eve…-chan…?"

"Tsugumi-san? Tsugumi-san!" Eve cried out when she recognized the voice that called her name before she hurried over to where the sound came from. Thankfully for Eve, Tsugumi kept her room clean otherwise she would have bumped into something on her way to her friend.

Tsugumi was slouched down in the corner of the room, both knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on top. She was looking in the direction of the center of the room, but her eyes were glazy and distant, almost as if she wasn't fully aware of what or who was around her. Those eyes were nothing like the warm and bright pair of eyes that Eve had grown to know and admire of her strong brunette friend, and that realization terrified Eve.

"I'm sorry for barging into your room like this, Tsugumi-san. I got worried when you stopped responding and your father gave me the key," Eve said, making sure to give Tsugumi the key that she had gotten from Tsugumi's father.

"So even Eve-chan…" Tsugumi muttered, accepting the key without another word before pulling her knees closer to her. In a soft and raspy voice, Tsugumi added, "I'm sorry…"

"Tsugumi-san, what happened?" Eve asked carefully, curious but still trying to stay respectful. Eve knew that her friend was a hardworking and independent girl, so for Tsugumi to be like told Eve that whatever happened must have been horrible for the brunette.

"A lot's happened and I don't know what to do…" Tsugumi admitted after an extended period of silence. A silence that Eve didn't dare to break, despite how curious she was and, while Tsugumi didn't say it, the brunette was very thankful for that. With a shaky breath, Tsugumi did the hardest thing in her life.

"Afterglow is gone, Eve-chan."

"What?!" Eve exclaimed in shock. She knew that every group would eventually split up and go their separate ways, but for Tsugumi to be like this as she admitted that would mean… Eve shook her head, silently convincing herself that that couldn't be true, before asking in a gentle voice, "What exactly happened?"

Silence once again. Tsugumi was recalling some painful memories, Eve could tell, and needed the time to get herself ready to talk about them. So Eve waited. She knew her friend needed to talk, so she gave her all the time and space that Tsugumi needed.

Finally, after half an hour, Tsugumi opened her mouth.

"Moca-chan got hurt badly during that live I was talking about two weeks ago," Tsugumi began, quivering slightly as the words escaped her. Eve gasped sharply when she heard this, but otherwise remained quiet to let Tsugumi continue, "Moca-chan is in the hospital now, and Ran-chan, Tomoe-chan, and Himari-chan all blame themselves for what happened."

"But it was an accident, right?" Eve asked carefully, hoping and praying with all her heart that it was but still asking the question. Not so much for her sake but for Tsugumi's.

"Yes, it was an accident…" Tsugumi finally said, but instead of being happier as Eve had hoped, she just ended up pulling her knees even closer to her, "But… nobody has talked to anybody since. It's even worse now than when I got admitted to the hospital… over two years ago…"

"Tsugumi-san…"

"I'm sorry, Eve-chan, but could you… leave me alone again?" Tsugumi asked her white-haired friend without looking up, "I need some more time to recollect myself."

Eve remained silent for a bit after. True, she wanted nothing more than to help her friend who was in pain, but she wasn't sure how she could do that. And if Tsugumi went out of her way to ask to be alone…

"All right, Tsugumi-san," Eve replied with a smile that had the faintest hints of sadness in it; Eve could only hope that Tsugumi didn't notice this. With a small bow, Eve left the room, but not before she said one more thing to Tsugumi, "Stay strong, Tsugumi-san! I know you and the other members of Afterglow will find a way to get through this all!"

And with that, Eve softly closed the door behind her, once again keeping the room in a calming darkness. A calming darkness for the only person left in the room.

It was a long time until there was finally some movement in the room. Tsugumi, with a lot of difficulties, managed to struggle back on her feet again… only to fall face-first into the soft covers of her bed not too long after.

A new sound would soon fill the room and one that had become fairly common in recent days. This sound was accompanied by the drops of water falling on the pillow that was still significantly damp from earlier that day as Tsugumi's body began to tremble heavily.

"I'm… sorry… Eve-chan… Moca-chan… everyone…" Tsugumi gritted her teeth as she hid her face in her pillow, muffling her cries but smothering it with her tears as a result, "I just make… make everybody worried… I just… can't do anything… for anyone… everybody is amazing but I… I can't even prevent us from falling apart… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Unbeknownst to the brunette, somebody was able to hear her cries. Eve had been leaning against the door from the other side ever since leaving the room, wondering what she could do for her friend. Hearing Tsugumi break down not too far from her was heartbreaking, but she knew that rushing back in there would only make things worse.

Eve knew that there was nothing that she could do for Tsugumi. And this realization hurt her even more than hearing Tsugumi break down not too far from her.

Eve slumped back downstairs with a heavy feeling in her heart to take her leave and maybe think of some way to cheer Tsugumi up, even if only a little. She was hoping to get out of the café without either of the adult Hazawas noticing, but Eve soon found out that that was too much to hope for.

"And? How is she?" Mrs. Hazawa asked the moment Eve came into view. Both she and her husband looked rightfully worried, and Eve felt a little overwhelmed by the attention that she was getting.

"Well, you see…" Eve trailed off before realizing what she had to do. She could be the good person and tell the parents what is going on with their daughter, or… Eve gulped before she continued, "Tsugumi-san was asleep when I entered. I thought I would wait in case she would wake up, but she was still sound asleep when I left. The key that you gave me is with Tsugumi-san, Mr. Hazawa."

"Thank you, Eve-chan," Mrs. Hazawa thanked the young woman, who bowed respectfully before taking her leave. Once Eve had left the café and was out of hearing distance, Mrs. Hazawa turned to look at the stairs with a sad look on her face, "Tsugumi…"

"It will be all right; we just have to trust in our daughter to come through." Mr. Hazawa said, trying to reassure his wife. But even she could tell that he wasn't completely sure of what he was saying, either, "And hope that it is sooner than later; but we should remember not to push her too hard. She saw Moca get hurt right in front of her eyes, that is bound to leave some scars."

"You're right…"

* * *

Later that night, when the moon was high in the skies above and everybody else was asleep, there were movements in a certain room of the Hazawa household. Careful so as to not accidentally wake anyone, Tsugumi tip-toed to the drawers on the other side of the room. She silently took something out and walked over to her window where she could have the moonlight help her to see it a bit.

What Tsugumi decided to take out was a framed picture and one that appeared to be relatively recently taken judging from how Tsugumi looked in it.

The picture was taken in front of Tsugumi's school, but it was clear it was after she and her classmates had graduated. Tsugumi remembered how Himari had huddled everybody together before snapping that picture with her camera.

Depicted in the picture was Ran in the middle, with Moca and Tsugumi on either side slightly in the front while Tomoe and Himari were behind them. All five were close together and even Ran was laughing in the picture.

That was, of course, before everything went downhill for Afterglow. Before that one fated day that changed everybody's lives.

Tsugumi pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face in them as her body started to tremble once again not long after. Only one word left Tsugumi's mouth before she cried herself to sleep in the corner of the room.

"Everyone…"

* * *

 **Did you really think that every chapter would be sunshine and rainbows? I'm afraid not… I hope you like this chapter, leave a review telling me what you thought of it, and I wish you a good day!**


	6. The Fateful Reunion

**And here we have the next chapter, picking right back up where chapter 04 had left off! I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **I don't own BanG Dream!**

* * *

Tomoe did not know what she was expecting when she opened the door, but this was certainly not it.

"Onee-chan, Ako is home~" Ako cheered in a sing-song voice before she abruptly stopped. With her gaze focused on Tomoe's new but horrendous hairstyle, she exclaimed in horror, "Onee-chan! What happened to your hair?!"

But Tomoe didn't respond to Ako's question. No, Tomoe's attention was all on the person who was standing behind Ako.

A person Tomoe didn't think she would see so soon.

"Himari…"

"Hi, Tomoe… It's been a while, huh?"

Tomoe stood in the door opening, rooted to the ground and not knowing how to react to this sudden visit. What was going on? Why was Himari here? Was Tomoe ready to face her old friend yet?

She wasn't, Tomoe already knew that, but she also knew that she had to do _something_.

"To…moe…?" Himari's voice was careful and soft, almost as if she was hesitant, too. She had her right hand outstretched, seemingly so as to place it on the redhead's shoulder but was still a bit off from reaching its destination.

"Not that I don't like seeing you," Tomoe began, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, not knowing how to say this. With a deep breath, she continued as calmly as possible while directing her question to Himari, "But why are you here?"

"W-Well…" Himari trailed off, clearly not knowing what to do or say in this situation either, "I ran into Ako-chan earlier and we ended up here somehow. I'm sorry if it's a bad time, I'll be on my way now."

Himari had already turned around, ready to leave the place in a hurry when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Looking up in shock Himari saw Tomoe's face not too far from her own.

"I didn't say it was, and since you've already come all this way… why not come in for a bit?" Tomoe suggested, making sure that she avoided eye contact with her friend. In an effort to give herself something else to look at, Tomoe turned to her sister, "Let's go, Ako."

"Sorry, Onee-chan, but Ako can't join you or Hii-chan today," Ako said with a small apologetic smile. A smile that neither of the former Afterglow girls believed, but they couldn't do anything before Ako took off.

This left Himari and Tomoe in a very uncomfortable silence the moment that the younger Udagawa left. A silence that could very well have lasted for hours as neither of them were able to break it in any way.

In actuality, only a couple of minutes had passed before one of them found the words to break the silence.

"Want to come in, then? I'm sure we still have some potato chips that Ako wouldn't miss," Tomoe shrugged, trying to be polite and invite her friend in.

The redhead had to be honest with herself; she didn't know what to say or do or even how to approach this. She had been out of contact with her friends for months. No… Tomoe knew the truth… it wasn't that she didn't keep in touch with the others, it's that she consciously severed all ties with them. Ever since _that_ day.

Unbeknownst to the former drummer, she wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"Okay," Himari nodded meekly in response before following Tomoe inside. Once inside, she took off her shoes and did her usual greeting, "Sorry for the intrusion."

"Nobody is home," Tomoe said off-handedly as she led the way, "Mom and dad are on a trip and won't be coming home for the foreseeable future, and Ako is… out with Shirokane-san, if I had to make a guess."

"I'm sorry for the mess, by the way. Keeping this place isn't our priority and we weren't really expecting any guests today," Tomoe added, a bit embarrassed as she looked around at the state the living room was in. Clearing her throat, she turned to Himari, "But that all aside, can I, uh… get you anything?"

"Just some water for me, please," Himari answered, obviously not wanting to cause even more trouble than she already was.

Tomoe nodded silently and stood up, getting two glasses before filling them both with cold water. As Tomoe was doing all of this, Himari took a second to look around.

In reality, not a lot of time had passed since Himari had last been here; a couple of months at most, despite how long it felt to her. But that really only further reinforced the idea that the Udagawa household felt… different… in such a short period of time, even though the interior of the house not having changed too much as far as Himari could tell.

There used to be some sort of energy, a warm feeling that Himari always felt whenever she was here. A kind and comforting feeling that would always make the former bassist feel welcome and at ease in the past.

It was gone now.

"Himari?"

"E-Eh?" Himari did a double-take, almost falling out of her seat on the couch as a result. As Himari tried to get her dignity back, Tomoe watched on silently with a look that hinted at amusement on her face.

"You were zoning out again," Tomoe informed her pink-haired friend matter-of-factly and without beating around the bush for it, almost as if this was a common occurrence between them. With a small sigh, Tomoe decided that it might be better to just get it out of the way directly, "What did Ako tell you?"

"What do you mean? She didn't say anything to me, or even that she was bringing me here in the first place," Himari answered, recalling the long walk she had with Ako that lasted all of twenty minutes.

But that was a mistake. A mistake that both girls realized at the same time.

"Forget I said anything!" Tomoe exclaimed hurriedly and in a panic. In an effort to avoid eye contact, she stood up hurriedly and walked away to refill her glass that, for all intents and purposes, was still full while muttering, "It's nothing."

"Tomoe… we both know it isn't nothing if you're acting like this," Himari said gently, wondering whether or not putting a hand on the redhead's shoulder was a good idea. In the end, she decided against doing it when she saw Tomoe relax a little, much to Himari's relief, "But… if you don't mind me asking… why did you cut your hair like that?"

"It's… a stupid reason…" Tomoe sighed, not yet willing to admit telling the whole story to Himari. The redhead subconsciously tried to run her fingers through her fiery locks but forgot that they weren't as long as she was used to. With an almost defeated look, she added, "I look better with long hair, don't I?"

"That wasn't why I asked, I was just… curious…" Himari trailed off, deflated, as she looked down in slight guilt. Then, with a soft, gentle voice, she added, "It suits you. It reminds me of when we were all still in junior high."

"Yeah…"

Himari looked up when she heard a distinct sound, wondering where it came from. It was a familiar sound, one that she heard on a daily basis, even. But this time… this time it was different.

"Tomoe!" Himari cried out, jumping to her feet and rushing over to the redhead's side. Himari hurriedly took her handkerchief out of her pocket and did a messy job at trying to dry Tomoe's eyes, "What happened, Tomoe? Why did you…?"

"It's just… just as you said…" Tomoe managed to say with broken breath, a small yet sad smile on her face as she faced Himari. Taking the piece of cloth from her friend with a soft 'thank you', Tomoe dried her eyes before adding, "I know it is stupid of me, but… I really wanted us all to be able to go back to those days. You know, where we were all still close friends and before all of… _this_ … happened."

"And so you cut your hair to feel a bit as if we were still in junior high?" Himari finished with an understanding smile, Tomoe nodding promptly to show her answer.

Seeing this caused Himari to chuckle. It was soft enough for it to remain unnoticed at first, but it grew louder and louder until it finally got to the point where Himari almost fell off of her seat again.

Tomoe, however, was left speechless and not knowing what was happening.

"What's so funny?" Tomoe asked, her voice cracking slightly as Himari's laughs were starting to become infectious. Thankfully, Himari was quick to regain control of herself; much faster than she used to, Tomoe noted to herself with a small smile.

"It's just that…" Himari trailed off, still shaking slightly but otherwise okay. She rummaged through her purse until she found what she was looking for and pulled it out for Tomoe to see, "I thought I was the only one."

Tomoe was surprised to see what Himari held in her hands, but somehow not that it had been in her purse.

Although a little dusty, and although it had seen better days, its identity was unmistakable for Tomoe. In the former bassist's hands was the handmade doll that Himari made herself a couple of years ago. The symbol and mascot of Afterglow, created to motivate and bring together the other members.

"Tomoe knows what this means too, right?" Himari asked with a fond smile, stroking the doll's head affectionately. She then looked at something behind Tomoe with a knowing look in her eyes, "After all, in all this mess… there is one thing you kept safe, didn't you?"

Tomoe followed Himari's gaze and, much to her surprise, saw that Himari was right. To say that the house as a whole was messy would be a bit harsh in Tomoe's opinion, but there it was… a single framed picture sat there, its crystal clear glass seemingly glowing among the dull and dark objects on the wooden table it sat on.

It was the picture in the frame itself that made it so special; something that everybody in the house knew. It was because of how important it was that it was kept in such perfect condition.

Depicted in the picture was Ran in the middle, with Moca and Tsugumi on either side slightly in the front while Tomoe and Himari were behind them. All five were close together and even Ran was laughing in the picture.

Seeing that Tomoe was still keeping that picture safe put a smile on Himari's face, reminding her how important they still were for her. It didn't, however, have a similar effect on Tomoe…

"Heh. That? That's just a distant memory, Himari," Tomoe scoffed, her words and actions surprising the former bassist but she stood her ground, "It's gone. The time has passed. What's there left to do?"

"Besides, there's no use saving us now," Tomoe continued, unaware of the change in Himari's expression as she let herself drown more and more in her own misery, "We all broke contact, and why would I be surprised that we did? We've already disbanded and—"

The cracking sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated through the room, causing everyone and everything in it to tremble.

But nothing did more so than Himari, whose outstretched hand was still red and slightly throbbing after making contact.

"I thought you were Udagawa Tomoe…" Himari hissed through gritted teeth, using every last bit of her willpower to hold back her tears, "Not just Ako-chan's older sister… Not just the drummer of Afterglow… but our—MY friend, Udagawa Tomoe!"

"Himari…" Tomoe breathed out, her own hand rising up to touch her cheek that was still hurting. Her gaze moved from Himari's trembling figure to the old doll in Himari's hand, to the framed picture behind her, and back to Himari.

"I'm sorry for slapping you like that, but you need to snap out of it," Himari cried out in desperation, "Is this really how strong our bond was? That one setback could break us apart and make us all give up? I know it is a huge setback, but still! This isn't like you! This isn't like the Tomoe I grew to know and respect!"

Neither girl moved after Himari had stopped shouting, both of them instead taking their time to let everything sink in. For Tomoe, it meant processing Himari's words, while for Himari it meant accepting that she just did that.

It was silent, and Himari was about to open her mouth to apologize when she heard a different sound.

"I see…" Tomoe muttered to herself while lowering her head with an empty smile, "You're trying hard to get us back together, and here I am… being the biggest idiot in the world."

"Don't be so hard on yourself; I only realized my mistakes today, too," Himari tried to reassure her friend, this time in a much softer and gentler voice, "But it's not too late. We can still work to get back together, even if it took us a long time to do so."

Tomoe kept her gaze on the ground, but Himari knew that the redhead was trying her hardest to regain her composure.

"Are you okay now, Tomoe?" Himari asked carefully. Tomoe had a delayed reaction, but she nodded in confirmation. Seeing Tomoe take several deep breaths put a smile on Himari's face.

"Moca is still in the hospital from what I heard," Himari said as Tomoe tried to regain her composure. Tomoe knew that Himari could see right through her façade, but the drummer was happy that the bassist didn't bring it up, "I lost contact with Tsugu and Ran, though, so I don't know how they are doing."

"Even so, we can't give up!" Tomoe exclaimed suddenly with a determined look, "Not just for Afterglow… but because we are friends and that is what friends do for each other, right?"

Before Tomoe knew what was happening, she was trapped in an embrace by the shorter of the two. Hesitantly, Tomoe moved her arms around the back of Himari's back, and the two of them stayed that way for a long time.

"Hey, Tomoe?" Himari's muffled voice broke the silence, catching Tomoe's attention. Tomoe nodded in response, knowing that Himari could feel this motion, before Himari added, "Welcome back."

"…it's good to be back," Tomoe smiled, making a mental note to never forget what her friends meant to her ever again, "Now why don't we go and get everybody else back as well?"

* * *

 **And there we go, another chapter down. Hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	7. Taking A Step Towards The Future

**Well, this is going to be an interesting chapter, I think. It was at least very fun to be writing, so I hope you all enjoy reading it, too!**

 **BanG Dream? Nuh-uh, no way! I don't own something like _that_!**

* * *

"Ran! Are you listening?"

"Yes, father!" Ran responded quickly, straightening her back and looking at a point in front of her in a hurry. She had been zoning out since several minutes ago and was now mentally berating herself for not paying full attention.

This was the promise she made to her father: she would be allowed to play in her band if she were to pick up ikebana and follow her family's footsteps afterward. Something that Ran didn't realize until much later, she noted with a sour mood, was that she could very well have done both at the same time.

Unfortunately for Ran, she noted as a pang of sadness struck her heart, her band had unofficially disbanded over three years ago. On the day of her graduation. And while she wasn't against ikebana anymore, unlike her former self, it still served as a reminder to her of what she did.

It reminded her of the pain that she must have inflicted on her friends on that day. That day when everything took a turn for the worse. That day when she disappeared without a trace.

Ran could feel her vision become hazy and knew that she had to do something about it quickly. Being in an enclosed space wasn't helping her a lot, so she knew that she only had one option.

"Father, I…" Ran began, but cut herself off before she finished her sentence. What was she doing? What was she going to say? How was she going to say what she wanted to say?

Ran gulped, trying to calm her nerves as the deadly silence only made things worse for her. The look on Ran's father's face didn't make things easier for the young Mitake, either. After an extended period of silence, Ran finally managed to finish her sentence, "I'm going to take a walk. I want to take a better look around."

'It wasn't exactly a lie,' Ran thought to herself as she took a mental note of her father's expression. The Mitake family moved only a day after Ran's graduation day to a new city none of them had ever gone to before. None of them had truly adjusted themselves to their new neighborhood just yet despite having already lived here for several years.

But nobody in the family was more affected by this than Ran herself.

Ran had already turned around and was about to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Surprised and caught off guard, she turned around to look straight into her father's eyes.

"Have fun."

Ran remained silent for a while, not knowing just how to respond. A few seconds soon came and went before she finally could say something again.

"Thank you, father."

* * *

Half an hour had passed after leaving her house and Ran was already feeling a lot better, having really needed some alone time more than she thought she did. With the air cooling down significantly as the end of the year was quickly nearing, Ran had made sure to wear for the occasion. Or, at least, she tried to.

Ran passed by an empty store and took a moment to look at her reflection in the glass window. She saw a young woman of twenty-one, not too tall but not short, either. Her black hair was contrasted by a single streak of red on the left side of her face. The same red streak that she had for years now, and one of the few things that she had to remind her of her past.

The woman in the reflection was wearing a black jacket that was unbuttoned, revealing a light-purple sweater underneath. She had a beige scarf wrapped around her neck and had denim shorts over black leggings to cover her legs.

Ran shivered slightly as she looked at herself with a frown, wondering why she thought that this was going to keep her warm in this weather. And then it dawned on her.

"I really don't change, do I?" Ran asked herself with a half-smile, even noting that she brought _that_ scarf with her today. The very same scarf that she got three years ago from— Ran shook her head vigorously to clear the painful memories from her mind only for her to hear a familiar name.

It wasn't very crowded today in the streets, so where did that voice come from?

"And here I am with the vocalist and founder of the recently regrouped band Roselia, Minato Yukina-san!"

Ran was now looking all around her to try and find the source of the voice when her eyes landed on the display of the store next to the one she was looking at. An electronics store, to be precise, that had different TV's displayed in the front.

And all of them were showcasing the same channel.

"Roselia has finally regrouped and started to make a name for themselves once again after a two-year long hiatus," a woman in her thirties announced on the screen, arguably being the center of attention for the viewers. Any viewer not named Mitake Ran, that is. Ran was focused on the person who the announcer directed her next words to soon after, "Minato-san, first and foremost: congratulations on your most recent live!"

"Thank you," Yukina nodded with a smile, but Ran noticed what nobody else did. Ran saw through her senior's façade and knew that she was not showing signs of any emotion as always.

"Minato-san, your performance was amazing, but it did leave some questions in your audience. May I?" the announcer asked, waiting to be given the permission to continue. When that was given, she was visibly holding back so as to not overwhelm the vocalist, "Your performance was very stunning, but a lot of people, myself included, have been wondering if you have anyone you were dedicating your performance to."

"I do, my family and friends. I would not have made it half as far as I have without any of them, and I am forever grateful for their support," Yukina replied without any form of hesitance, receiving a satisfied nod of the woman with her. But Yukina wasn't finished, "It was not just my friends and comrades of Roselia that helped me become who I am today, although a lot of credit should be given to them as well. There was a friend in my high school years who was in a different band. We may not have been very close, and we may not always have been seeing eye-to-eye, but her presence alone pushed me forward. It is a shame that I could never show her my gratitude, and that is something that I will never be able to forgive myself for."

"I see…" the woman trailed off, visibly deflated upon hearing this piece of information. This is in stark contrast to Ran's reaction, having tensed up upon hearing Yukina's words. So much so that she almost missed that the interview continued in her lack of attention soon after, "I am sure that with a performance like that, your friend would have heard you no matter where she is. So if you knew that your friend was listening to you right now, what would you say?"

"Mitake-san, I do not know where you are right now or even if you hear this, but if you are listening then I wanted to wish you well," Yukina said, her face looking straight at the camera and, as a result, seemed like she was looking straight at Ran on the other side of the screen. There was no way that Yukina could be sure of this, however, but she continued anyway, "And I look forward to the day that I get to see you on stage once again."

"There you have it, everybody!" the interviewer exclaimed cheerfully with open arms, the camera's focus zooming in on her face, "That wraps up our short interview with Minato Yukina-san. Thank you for your time, again, and good luck with your next live!"

"Thank you again for having me here," Yukina said with a slight nod of the head before both of them disappeared and made way for a series of advertisements to show on screen.

Ran just stood there not moving at all, almost as if she was frozen in place. She didn't know how to react to what she had just seen. It wasn't quite that her senior and rival vocalist was rising up the ranks that surprised her; Ran had expected as much with how good they were. A band like Roselia would surely be able to reach the top without much effort, as much as Ran didn't want to admit that.

It was the words Yukina said specifically to her that shook Ran.

"Minato-san… everyone…" Ran muttered through gritted teeth, clenching her fists to the point where her nails dug significantly into the palm of her hands. While the sudden jolt of pain was surprising for Ran, it did help her get back to reality, "After all this time and after everything that I did… everyone should have hated me… but still…"

Of course, it was that exact moment that Ran's mind chose to vividly replay a certain memory for her. She couldn't just see everything that happened on that day, but she could hear and feel everything as well. From the crash of the iron beams to the many screams in the audience and the terror that she was feeling when she got up.

Ran felt it all as if it were happening all over again. And just when she was about to scream, a miracle happened.

The pain and terror that Ran felt dissipated and the memory that she was forced to relive changed. Now she was shown a different memory, one that was much brighter than the one before.

Ran could see the rooftop of her junior high school, a place that she used to spend a lot of time on. It was late afternoon, with the setting sun enveloping the whole area in a brilliantly warm shade of orange. But what was interesting was that the place wasn't empty.

A group of girls, none of them looking like they were any older than fifteen, were all huddled close and enjoying the magnificent view that only that rooftop could give them.

And that was all that Ran needed to remember.

* * *

"I'm home…" Ran announced rather meekly, closing the door behind her before putting off her shoes, scarf, and jacket. She was barely done with this all when she realized she wasn't alone in the hallway anymore.

"Welcome home, Ran," a familiar low voice greeted the young Mitake, prompting Ran to look up and see her father return the gaze. He was holding a phone that had its screen illuminate the room, telling Ran that her father knew. She didn't even need to hear her father's next words to confirm this, "You wanted to talk?"

Ran nodded despite silently wondering why she even needed to in the first place. Her father had clearly seen the message that she had sent him only a couple of minutes ago. Ran could even see some of the familiar words on the screen, further confirming that her father already knew.

This was all the confirmation her father needed. He turned around slowly and led the way to the newly decorated living room. Once there, both father and daughter made themselves comfortable for the talk Ran had been readying herself for for the last two hours.

The two of them shared a period of silence together that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. It was just there, with neither of them knowing how to break it in a way that at least somewhat resembled being natural.

"What did you want to talk about, Ran?" it was Ran's father who said something first, his eyes focused on his daughter and hiding a plethora of emotions away from Ran's vision. Even though it was reassuring to know that her father wasn't openly mad at her, him hiding his emotions from her did not help Ran very much to stay calm.

Ran gulped, hesitating slightly. While her relationship with her father had been improving ever since Ran had stopped rebelling against her father, she still wasn't comfortable being exposed to his gaze like that.

"I did, father. I…" Ran trailed off into a momentary silence. Her nerves were starting to get to her, but Ran kept on. She knew she had to say this so, with a deep breath, she continued, "I want to take a break from ikebana and go back. Give my friends the apology that I never gave them. I need to, even if it is more than three years too late."

"Are you sure?" Ran's father asked, and this caught Ran off guard. The look in his eyes told her that he was being serious.

"What do you mean, father?" Ran had expected her father to say that she couldn't go, hoped to hear that he would let her go, and was even wishing against better judgment to be cheered on. But this response was something that even Ran had not expected, despite having grown up with Aoba Moca in her life.

'Moca…'

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" Ran's father responded to Ran's question with a question of his own, "You didn't tell them anything three years ago and disappeared completely. Don't think that it will be easy to face them; as a matter of fact, there is even a chance that they hate you. Are you sure that you are able to handle and accept it if that were the case?"

"I…" Ran trailed off, obviously not having considered this fact before. Even so, she knew what she had to do, and she will do it no matter what. She nodded, "If that is how it all turned out, then I will accept it as it would mean I deserved it. I pushed them to this point to begin with. I ran away without a word when they needed me the most."

"But I can't live like this," Ran continued, the words rolling off her tongue almost naturally now that she had started to get going. With a determined look in her eyes, Ran finished, "Not while knowing that I've hurt my most important friends. Even if it means that they hate me, I owe them at least this much!"

Another silence, but this time the silence between the two of them was heavy. It had tension. And, most of all, it had meaning. Neither of them were looking away, knowing just how important this was, but somebody had to make a move soon…

"Very well. Get your things ready, I will make sure you get there and have a place to stay," Ran's father instructed his daughter as he stood up. Seeing an overjoyed yet dazed young woman sitting in front of him, he added with a small smile, "It might take a while to make amends with all of your friends, so make sure you're ready to stay for a long time. Now go."

"Right! Thank you, father!" Ran bowed before hurrying to her room with a spring in her steps.

This left Ran's father alone in silence in the living room, an unusual smile on his face, but this wouldn't last for long.

After a couple of knocks, the door opened and another young woman stepped into the room. She was neither much taller nor much older than Ran, but something about her radiated an aura of power and confidence that even Ran didn't have. Or ever had, for that matter.

As soon as Ran's father noticed her presence, he turned to her and bowed his head slightly, "Thank you for your kind words earlier, Minato-san. I'm sure that hearing them from you must have struck a chord with my daughter. She has been struggling with this ever since we got here, and this is the first time I've seen her this happy. Again, thank you."

"I am glad I could help her as well," the newcomer said with a smile before turning to look in the direction that Ran had gone off to, "I just hope that what I did was enough."

"I hope so as well…" Ran's father trailed off as both of them turned to look in the direction that Ran had gone off to.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	8. The Fateful Reunion (Part 2)

**And here we are once again with the next chapter, hope you're all still enjoying this series so far.**

 **Also, as a quick reminder for those who have missed the post on the Tumblr: this will be the last chapter of this story to be uploaded in 2017 due to personal reasons and issues. So happy new year in advance, everybody!**

 **No, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I don't own BanG Dream!**

* * *

"So? What do you think?"

"I don't know… don't you think that we could be pushing it? It may not be the right time."

"Of course it's the right time! We both know what would have happened to you had Ako-chan not brought me to you three weeks ago. Who's to say that things are going any better for her?"

The two old friends had been spending as much time with each other as possible in a desperate effort to reform the bonds that they once had. Today, this has led them on a morning walk at the request of the shorter of the two.

They originally were just having a nice stroll through the city, but they would eventually arrive at a familiar place; and while they both knew that they were dying to enter… they also didn't know if they wanted to. Or, rather, if they were truly ready for what was on the other side of that door.

It was because of this that the two of them remained outside in the cold early-fall weather. Neither woman could think of a way to break the silence, and they would have stayed outside had someone from the inside not seen them.

"Welcome, how may I—" the white-haired woman wearing the café's apron began cheerfully as she stepped outside, directing her words to the two strangers. She didn't manage to finish her sentence, however, as she cut herself off when she saw that the two strangers weren't as much of a stranger as she first thought they were, "Himari-san? And Tomoe-san? It's good to see you two again! How have you been?"

"Hi, Eve-chan," Himari said, slightly uneasy at how open and welcoming Eve was despite not having seen them for a long time. As a matter of fact, Himari couldn't remember when the last time she visited this place was, and judging from the look on Tomoe's face she was not the only one.

"I'm sorry, but can we go inside again and continue the talk there? It's quite cold here," Eve said sounding almost apologetic, rubbing her arms to give herself some more warmth. Himari and Tomoe noticed this, seeing that it was a result of Eve not wearing appropriate clothes for the weather, and quickly followed a grateful Eve back inside.

"Sorry to come in here unannounced," Himari said with an apologetic smile before remembering that they were in a café. Embarrassed, she turned to Eve, "A-Anyway, Eve-chan, this may sound strange coming from us after all this time, but… do you perhaps know where Tsugu is?"

Himari and Tomoe knew that the name of their childhood friend would have a big impact on Eve, but they hadn't prepared themselves just how much so. Eve, originally being bright and cheerful when she saw Himari and Tomoe arrive, suddenly deflated completely.

"I'm sorry, Himari-san, I know where Tsugumi-san is but I don't know if she can meet you now. She… took what happened on that day quite hard," Eve apologized in a soft voice, confirming the fears of both Himari and Tomoe. Then, in a slightly steadier voice, Eve added, "I actually haven't been able to reach Tsugumi-san myself since her graduation. I'm getting really worried about her."

Himari looked to Tomoe for a moment as the words were leaving Eve's mouth, and the two childhood friends knew that they were thinking the same thing. Careful so as to not startle Eve, Tomoe placed a gentle on the waitress' shoulder.

"It will be all right," Tomoe smiled reassuringly as Himari nodded in agreement. Then, slightly hesitant, Tomoe added, "We're sorry it took us a while to finally get here, but let us take care of the rest. It's our fault that Tsugu is the way that she is now, after all, so can we ask a big favor of you and ask you to get Tsugu to come here?"

"I will try… thank you, Tomoe-san," Eve bowed her head slightly before leading the two to an unoccupied table in the corner of the café. As Himari and Tomoe took their seats, Eve looked at both of them with a smile, "Please make yourself comfortable, I am going to call Tsugumi-san and ask her to come here. Do you two maybe already know what you want to get?"

Himari and Tomoe took a moment to share a look but it didn't take them long to realize that they were thinking the same thing yet again. The two childhood friends turned back to the waiting Eve in perfect synchrony and, as one, said, "The same as always."

Eve blinked a couple of times after she heard that response, but smiled after a momentary period of silence. It took her another couple of seconds to remember what those orders of Himari and Tomoe were, though Eve wasn't shy of throwing in another smile when she finally did.

With a quick bow and a promise that she would be bringing Tsugumi and their orders to them soon, Eve hurried off. This left Himari and Tomoe alone, both only now realizing what they had said.

"So, um… 'the same as always', huh…?" Himari asked, chuckling nervously as she looked around her. That was when Himari started to notice her surroundings, and she was quick to voice them to her friend, "Wow, Tomoe, look at those! They sure changed a lot about this place since we last came here, didn't they?"

"Now that you mention it…" Tomoe trailed off as she, too, looked around her. The interior of the Hazawa Café had not changed as much as Himari may have implied it did, but it was still obvious enough for them to notice. Some decorations like the paintings and vases were noticeably different, and both Himari and Tomoe were certain that the wallpapers that they used now were different as well.

The two of them would have had more time to ponder all these minute differences, and would probably have liked to do so as well, but the sudden yet ringing sound of porcelain shattering broke their train of thoughts. Both Himari and Tomoe instinctively whipped their heads around in the direction of the sound, but neither of them knew what to say or do when they finally saw the source of it.

They ended up looking straight at somebody who they hadn't seen in months.

The girl was just standing there in front of the table that Himari and Tomoe were sitting at, her body trembling heavily and her feet were positioned right behind a pile of broken porcelain and glass that wasn't there moments ago. She did not seem to care about that at all, however; the brunette's eyes were wide in hope and shock, focusing solely on Himari and Tomoe.

"Himari-chan… Tomoe-chan…"

The one who was standing in front of them was unmistakably their childhood friend and the reason they came all the way here: Hazawa Tsugumi. Her vibrant brown hair was as short as it always has been and her eyes, the orbs that shared their color with the girl's hair, were wide and filled with tears.

"Tsugu, we—" Tomoe tried, standing up as quick as she could and trying to reach her old friend in time. Her words got drowned out, however, when Tomoe got tackled by the brunette with enough force to topple her over.

"It's been… so long…" Tsugumi cried out, her words muffled due to the brunette hiding her face in Tomoe's shoulder, "Tomoe-chan! Himari-chan!"

Tomoe was stunned for a bit, not knowing what to do but when she felt her shoulder getting drenched the redhead slowly returned the embrace. A few moments passed and the former drummer felt another pair of arms wrap around her, looking up only to find that Himari had joined them in what was now a group hug.

"Isn't this great, Tsugumi-san?"

A gentle but distinctively happy voice asked, causing all three former members of Afterglow to turn around and look at who was there. It was Eve who was standing there, a broom in her hands as she stood right at the pile of broken porcelain pieces, smiling brightly at the three girls.

At the three girls who have finally been reunited after months of separation and despair.

"Tsugumi-san, if I may… I think that taking the rest of the day off is a good idea," Eve said with a smile as she used the broom to collect all the broken pieces on the floor. As she was doing this, Eve saw Tsugumi move in her periphery, but she didn't give her the room to do so, "No, Tsugumi-san, I got this. Please. You deserve this. You have been waiting for this day since your graduation concert, right?"

"Eve-chan…" Tsugumi breathed out, feeling very conflicted at what she should be doing. She really wanted to spend some time with her childhood friends, especially after how long it has been since she had even seen them. On the other hand, she also would feel very guilty for just leaving her shift at work for her own selfish reasons.

"Tsugumi!"

The familiar voice did not only catch Tsugumi's attention but all of her friends' as well. All of them recognized this voice instantly, even though it had been a long time since Himari and Tomoe had last heard it, but they all looked up simultaneously.

Walking over to where they were sitting was Tsugumi's father, wearing an unreadable expression that only helped to make Tsugumi even more anxious. Even so, Tsugumi responded to the call and hurried over to him.

"Yes, Dad?" Tsugumi asked as she reached him and looked up at him with a shaky smile. The two of them usually had a good relationship going on, but when her father was acting like this Tsugumi had no idea what to expect.

Tsugumi's father remained silent for several seconds before he nodded to himself. Reaching his hand out, he asked in a serious yet gentle voice, "Give me your uniform, Tsugumi."

Of all the things that Tsugumi thought her father would say to her at a time like this, that was certainly not one of them. She had expected a lot of things, ranging from her father asking her what she was doing or asking her to get back to work, but this?

"Why, Dad?" Tsugumi asked, sounding very confused. The brunette didn't move to do what she had been told; she was just staring at her father with wide eyes. Silently wondering what was going on in her head but ultimately coming just short as to why her father had asked this of her.

Thankfully for Tsugumi, she didn't have to think of a possible reason why; her father had already given it to her.

"These past few of months, all you have been doing was help us in our café, Tsugumi. And while both your mother and I really appreciate your hard work, you did so without taking any time for yourself to unwind and relax," Tsugumi's father explained calmly to Tsugumi who could only chuckle sheepishly in response. Tsugumi's father did not stop there, however, as he nodded discreetly in the direction of Himari and Tomoe, "And now your friends are here, having come all the way just to spend time with you. It would be a waste to let this opportunity go to waste, right?"

"Dad…" Tsugumi breathed out with a bright smile on her face as her father's words finally reached her. When she saw that her father had meant every word, Tsugumi nodded ecstatically, took off her apron and handed it to her father. With a quick bow followed by a loving hug, Tsugumi added, "Thank you…"

Letting go of her father, Tsugumi hurried back to where Himari and Tomoe were waiting for her. As soon as Tsugumi was out of hearing distance, Eve shuffled to Tsugumi's father side and muttered just loud enough for him to hear, "Isn't this great, Tsugumi-san's father? Tsugumi-san looks so happy to be with her friends again."

"It is…" Tsugumi's father trailed off with a smile forever plastered on his face. Seeing this brought a smile on Eve's face as well, knowing how much this had been bothering him these past few months as well, "Now let's get to work to cover for Tsugumi's absence!"

"Right!"

As Eve and Tsugumi's father went back to work once again, Tsugumi joined Himari and Tomoe at their table with a grin that said it all. Neither of the other two girls even needed to ask Tsugumi what had happened, the answer to that question already being crystal clear…

Even so, Himari couldn't suppress her curiosity.

"And, Tsugu? How did it go?" Himari asked, sounding surprisingly cheerful as she turned to face Tsugumi with a bright smile of her own. Himari, as impatient as always, continued to push for more, "What did your dad say?"

"Well…" Tsugumi trailed off but still couldn't keep the smile off her face. With a determined nod, she continued, "Dad told me that I had the rest of the day off and that I should spend it with Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan."

Himari and Tomoe both smiled at this, despite already knowing, but that was when Tomoe remembered something important. Tomoe's subsequent drop in mood was noticeable enough for both Tsugumi and Himari to pick up on and, now being the center of attention, Tomoe knew that she had to say what was on her mind.

"Tsugu, really, so—" Tomoe tried, Himari nodding gravely in agreement when she realized what Tomoe was doing, but the redhead was stopped when Tsugumi herself shook her head.

"Tomoe-chan and Himari-chan… please don't say it… these past few months have been the worst for us all, but they're over and we shouldn't think about them anymore," Tsugumi said with a small smile, trying to sound strong but her quivering voice betrayed her, "What happened on that day… none of us could have done anything to prevent it, right? And we all made the mistake of locking ourselves up in our own little worlds afterward…"

"If Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan are okay with this, let's leave it in the past and start over…" Tsugumi finished with a determined look on her face. Himari and Tomoe were silent for a handful of seconds but finally nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Tsugumi smiled before continuing, "So… I know we have a lot to catch up with, but I think we are all thinking about the same thing. We should probably find Ran-chan and Moca-chan, right?"

"The only problem is that we have no idea where either of them are," Himari said grimly to which Tomoe nodded as well. Before Tsugumi could ask what Himari meant by that, Himari had already continued, "I went to see Ran at her house several weeks ago, but it has already been destroyed. None of them are there anymore, and neither of us could reach them by phone ever since."

"What?!" Tsugumi explained in shock, instinctively looking around for her phone and calling her friend. It didn't take the brunette long to hear the same thing as Himari and Tomoe did on their numerous attempts to call their friend: the tone indicating that she could not be reached. As Tsugumi lowered her hand with her phone still in it, she saw the looks that she was getting from Himari and Tomoe.

"Moca's whereabouts aren't much better, either," Tomoe continued with a sigh as she recalled the last time she visited the hospital just last week, "We cannot track her down, and even the hospital she was staying at doesn't know where she is anymore. We think that she's still near here, especially if she hasn't fully recovered yet, but we have no idea where to look for her."

"Moca-chan… Ran-chan…" Tsugumi trailed off in a defeated tone as she visibly slumped down in her seat. Himari and Tomoe didn't look like they were faring any better, and the three of them fell in a prolonged period of silence.

They reached a roadblock. While it was true that they were finally reunited with Tsugumi after so long, none of them knew what to do next. Or, rather, they didn't know how to tackle the obstacle that was right in front of them.

Until a familiar voice broke their silence and brought all three former members of Afterglow back to reality.

"Sorry for intruding, but I might be able to help with finding your friend."

* * *

 **I think this is a good place to end this chapter, don't you? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	9. Everlasting Bonds

**I was originally not planning to upload any more chapters this year, but oh well… what can you do? So I hope that you all end up enjoying this chapter a lot!**

 **This has been a chapter that I've wanted to write a lot for a long time, but it never managed to fit into the timeline of The Times We Lost. But here, in The Times We Lost Collection, it has all the time and space it needs!**

 **I do not own BanG Dream!**

* * *

It was a bright and warm summer afternoon, and everything was beautiful. The sun shone brightly high above in the light blue sky, not a single fluffy white cloud was in sight. Happy parents could be seen taking a joyful walk with their bubbly and energetic children, taking full advantage of the weather that they did not know would last how long.

Even the animals themselves seemed like they were having a good time. A group of thrushes was chirping merrily in a nearby tree, a handful of stray cats and dogs came out of hiding and enjoyed the food that was left behind for them, and there was even a squirrel running back and forth to store nuts in a place only the squirrel knew where.

While all of this was happening, a young woman by the name of Imai Lisa could only watch with a sad smile on her face, knowing all of this was happening right beside something… a lot less bright. Even so, the brunette knew that she had to keep a positive attitude. She had to—

"Miss?"

A hesitant but gentle voice shook Lisa out of her daydream, bringing her right back to the present. It was only then when she remembered just where she was, the warmth of the oven in the back and the scent of freshly baked bread playing a vital part in that.

Lisa currently found herself in a bakery; the Yamabuki Bakery, to be exact. After some careful deliberation that lasted a whole second, she decided she would stop by and get a couple of pastries for on the way when she was in the area.

For some reason, simply being here brought back a ton of memories for her and she had zoned out before she had even realized it.

"I'm sorry, I must have dozed off for a second there," Lisa chuckled sheepishly before she ran through her purse to find her wallet, "How much was that again?"

"Seven hundred," the man behind the register said with a smile, accepting the money from Lisa before giving the bag with the pastries in it to her, "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you! You too!" Lisa waved with a smile before exiting the building. She had to cover her eyes as soon as she got outside as the bright rays of the sun temporarily blinded her, but it wasn't long until she could see her surroundings again.

Unfortunately for Lisa, she couldn't stay here for very long to enjoy the weather like everybody else could, and she was well aware of this fact. Looking around to get her bearings right, Lisa made haste towards her actual destination.

* * *

In a hospital room not too far away from the Yamabuki Bakery, a certain patient was currently having her check-up done. Something that long ago would have created a big fuss, the patient had since learned to just let it go to allow it to finish sooner.

"Good afternoon, Aoba-san, how are you feeling today?" the nurse asked, trying to remain cheerful to brighten the patient's mood as she measured the patient's blood pressure and temperature. Even though she knew she was outside the patient's field of vision, the nurse nodded silently when she got the results.

"The same as always…" the patient, Aoba Moca, said with a dry chuckle, being unable to do or say much else while the nurse was doing her checkup on her. She tried to keep her gaze away from the window overlooking the park near the hospital, but she didn't have as much self-control as she thought she did. With a sad smile, she added, "How long am I going to be stuck here for? It's already been so long…"

The nurse had just opened her mouth to try and give Moca an answer but was stopped from doing so before she could give it to the disheartened patient. It was at that exact moment when both of them heard a knock on the door, grabbing both of their attention almost instantly.

"Yes?" the nurse asked as she opened the door, letting a familiar face for Moca in.

"I'm here to visit Moca, but if I'm interrupting anything…" Lisa began but trailed off soon after, realizing maybe a second too late that she might have arrived at an awkward time.

"I was about to take Aoba-san to the rehabilitation room so she can train to walk again," the nurse said with an apologetic smile, "If you want, you can stay here until she returns, but it might take a while for her to do so."

"That's okay, I'll just wait," Lisa laughed, side-stepping the nurse and walking over to where Moca was already seated in her wheelchair. Lisa felt a pang of hurt seeing her friend like this, but she tried to shake it off in favor of remaining positive for her friend's sake. Instead, she offered her fist to Moca, "Mocateru~?"

"Of course~" Moca cheered, bumping Lisa's fist with her own. Satisfied and re-energized, Moca turned back to the nurse with a smile, "All right, let's go~"

"Then, please excuse us…" the nurse said softly as she pushed Moca out of her room and in the direction Lisa could only imagine led to the rehabilitation room.

It was silent in the hospital room for an extended period of time after Moca and the nurse left, leaving Lisa alone with nothing to do. Cold, heavy silence…

Lisa shook her head, trying to clear her mind off of those thoughts before muttering to herself, "Moca, break a leg."

* * *

About an hour had passed since Lisa had arrived and she had to be honest with herself here. She was starting to get a little bored of waiting now. Lisa knew that it was selfish of her, as Moca needed—

Lisa's train of thoughts was interrupted when the door to the room opened and the nurse from earlier pushed an exhausted but clearly satisfied Moca back in. Lisa was quick to offer her help, and with the combined efforts of her and the nurse, it did not take long for Moca to collapse in her bed again.

"What happened to her?" Lisa asked casually to the nurse with a gesture in Moca's direction, managing to suppress the amusement in her voice and, instead, sound worried and concerned.

The nurse seemed disgruntled at the question somehow, but answered anyways after taking a deep breath to try and calm herself in vain, "Aoba-san pushed herself too hard while training to be able to walk just now. Again."

"Moca's just the same as always, huh?" Lisa chuckled, surprising the nurse by directing her words to the girl lying on the bed. After several seconds had passed, she turned to the nurse with a serious look on her face and smiled, "Is it okay for me to be alone with her now? I'll make sure she'll get enough rest after."

"I mean, I already did everything I came here to do, so she is in your hands, Imai-san," the nurse relented, causing a wide smile to form on Lisa's lips. The nurse was about to leave when she remembered something and came back to speak to Moca, "Aoba-san, if there is anything please call, all right?"

"Ooooooo~kaaaaaaay~"

With her question answered, the nurse bowed respectfully before leaving the two friends alone. The silence that the nurse had left Moca and Lisa in after her departure lasted all of one second.

"Lisa-saaaaan~ I'm hungry~" Moca whined playfully as the two friends broke into cheerful laughter soon after. It was only after their laughter had died down somewhat that Moca added almost sheepishly, "I'm serious~… I'm actually starving…"

"Right right~" Lisa chuckled, grabbing the bag that she brought in with her and casually throwing it in Moca's general direction, "Help yourself."

"Thank you, Lisa-san!" Moca cheered before digging through the bag to see what Lisa had brought with her this time.

As Moca was doing this, Lisa couldn't help but smile at the sight of it all. She knew that Moca had been through so much, being one of the very few people who knew of Moca's secret, and yet the bedridden girl still seemed so positive and hopeful of the future. Not a lot had managed to break Moca in the past, and Lisa knew that there won't be a lot of things down the road that could accomplish that.

"Is something wrong, Lisa-san?" Moca's voice broke Lisa's train of thought, bringing the brunette back to reality. Moca had just taken out a pair of pastries, holding one in either hand, but that was when she saw her friend zoned out like that.

Despite the situation that she found herself in, Lisa let out a soft chuckle before thinking to herself, 'Even after everything… you didn't change… even so…'

Lisa took a deep breath, trying to remain calm as much as possible for what she knew she needed to ask. Taking a couple of seconds to think of the right words to word her question, Lisa turned to Moca.

"What you talked to me about the other day… do you still mean that?" Lisa asked as seriously as possible, looking Moca in the eyes and steeling herself to not break away. She needed to show that she was being serious, but at the same time Lisa also knew that she should be careful with how she handled the situation.

"Yes, Lisa-san, I do," Moca finally said, slightly dejected at needing to say that once again. Though, at the same time, Moca was thankful that Lisa did bring this up. With a deep breath, she continued, "I know that I'm being a nuisance for Lisa-san to ask something like this—"

"You're not! Really, you're not!" Lisa said quickly, interrupting Moca mid-sentence in the process. With a small sigh, Lisa added, "I just want to hear why you're pushing yourself so hard."

"That? That is easy, Lisa-san," Moca laughed softly as she put her pastries on the table to her side, realizing that she wouldn't be eating them anytime soon, "As Lisa-san knows, we're close in Afterglow. Very close. It's like Lisa-san and Minato-san. But then between all five members~"

Lisa nodded in understanding, of course already having heard that claim being made on numerous occasions in the past. But before Lisa could start to imagine how Roselia would be if all five members had been childhood friends for a decade like Afterglow was, Moca had already continued.

"But that is also a bad thing…" Moca trailed off, looking off with a sad smile as she remembered that specific event. After a handful of painful seconds had passed, a period of time in which Lisa remained silent to give her friend the time she needed, Moca continued, "Lisa-san probably already know this, but this isn't the first time that one of us ended up in the hospital. Tsugu overworked herself once in our first year in senior high school to the point of collapsing out of exhaustion."

"That is why I need to do this, Lisa-san," Moca finished with a determined look on her face, "I'm sure that everyone is still blaming themselves for what happened to me, even if it was nobody's fault. Because we haven't grown a single bit since that day in this regard."

"And it isn't until they see that you've fully recovered that they will stop blaming themselves?" Lisa asked, trying to finish Moca's story for the bedridden girl. Moca nodded silently and Lisa, who now understood Moca's reasoning a little bit more, couldn't help but smile, "All right… I get it…"

"Thank you, Lisa-san," Moca smiled a genuine smile which Lisa couldn't help but return. Seeing Moca happy, despite her situation, somehow made Lisa happier as well.

There was still one thing left that Lisa needed to know, and she knew that it wouldn't be easy to get this out of her friend now.

But suppressing her curiosity has never been one of Lisa's strong points…

"What about… what about Ran?" Lisa asked carefully, eyeing Moca to see where she had to draw the line. Thankfully, Moca didn't react negatively at the question at all, so Lisa decided to test the waters a bit and continued, "Do you still feel the same way as the last time we talked?"

"Yes, I do," Moca responded with a deep breath, trying to calm herself down despite knowing that Lisa only had the best for her in mind, "No matter what anyone else is saying, I know that Ran is hurting… maybe even more so than anyone else… besides, it wasn't her fault, so why would I hold it against her?"

"I know you wouldn't, I just wanted to make sure that you know what you're getting yourself into," Lisa said hurriedly, but relaxed almost immediately when Moca waved off her concern. With a softer, gentler voice, Lisa added, "You know I will help you in whatever way I can, right?"

"Of course~ That's why Moca-chan asked the great Lisa-san for help~," Moca said cheerfully before the two girls broke out in lighthearted laughter again.

Both Moca and Lisa eventually ended up falling into a comfortable silence. A silence that neither girl wanted to break, but somebody had to do it as visiting hours was starting to come to a close.

"Lisa-san?" Moca asked, more to get the brunette's attention than anything. Lisa motioned for Moca to continue, which she gladly did, "Thank you for everything that you're doing for me, I'm really thankful for it all."

"No worries no worries, that's what friends are for!" Lisa grinned as she stood up, the movement surprising Moca more than what Lisa said. Lisa, seeing the look on Moca's face, added with an apologetic smile, "It's getting late, and we don't want another repeat of what happened the last time I stayed past visiting hours, right?"

"No, we wouldn't," Moca smirked, already remembering that day when the nurse had to chase Lisa out of the hospital. Chuckling, Moca added teasingly, "My stomach hurt hours after you left; poor Moca-chan couldn't even enjoy her dinner after that…"

"Aw, you poor thing~ well, I should probably hurry and save poor Moca-chan's stomach then~" Lisa smirked, playing along with Moca as always. Now that playtime was over, however, Lisa added in a serious tone, "I might not be able to visit you again for a while… I'll try to, but at least I'll be here when you're discharged. Keep me notified, okay?"

"O~kay~" Moca waved with her mouth already full of bread as Lisa left the room.

What Moca may not have known, however, was that Lisa stopped to lean on the wall of Moca's hospital room.

'Moca… I'll make sure you'll fly high again, so just wait a little longer!'

A considerable time after Moca had dug into her visiting gift from Lisa passed until the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway.

* * *

 **Probably not something that people had expected I would bring up in this chapter, or at all in this oneshot collection story, but I still felt like it so why not?**

 **I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	10. The Fateful Reunion (Part 3)

**And here we are with a chapter that I, honestly, have been waiting to write and publish for quite some time… something that I have a feeling quite the number of people were hoping to see soon as well. And today, that wait is finally over!**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always! I do not own BanG Dream!**

* * *

 _"So, Ran… not that I don't like spending time with you, but why did you bring me all the way here?"_

 _Moca sounded surprisingly confused, and the still-anxious Ran drew comfort knowing that she managed to get this side of Moca to the surface. That she managed to see this side of Moca. Even so, this did not help her prepare for what she knew she was about to do; for what she knew needed to be done._

 _The entire reason why Ran had asked Moca to come here in the first place._

 _It was nearing the end of the year, only two schooldays were separating the girls from their much-anticipated winter vacation. Moca and Himari had both been vocally complaining that the semester was lasting so long numerous times, and even Tomoe and Ran had joined them on more than one occasion. Tsugumi, despite not outwardly showing it, had been seen falling asleep at random times as well, revealing just how exhausted even someone like Tsugumi really was._

 _But even so, the five girls from Afterglow were still rather content with their lives. Not a lot of time had passed since they had done their last live with a lot of success, and all of them were still in high spirits. It was probably because of this that they all managed to survive through their exams with relative ease._

 _Today, Ran had asked Moca to come to a familiar place for the two of them after school had ended: a small playground on the outskirts of the city. It may not have been much for anyone else, but this place held an important spot in the hearts of both girls._

 _Over fourteen years ago, Ran and Moca first met each other in this very playground. And they both knew that neither of them had forgotten._

 _"Well, since… since Moca keeps bringing it up, I thought I should… I should try…" Ran stuttered, looking away quickly to avoid Moca's eyes that seemed to be able to see right through her. And, sure enough, Ran could feel the look that Moca was giving her right now, almost as if Moca already knew what Ran was trying to say._

 _It wasn't as if Moca would stop there, however._

 _"Eh? What do you mean, Ran~?" Moca asked in a sing-song voice, suddenly sounding just like her normal self once again much to Ran's dismay. It was hard enough for Ran to talk when Moca wasn't pushing her buttons, but now that she was…_

 _Ran's train of thoughts was broken when she felt a warm, gentle hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the worried look on Moca's face. A look that only managed to make Ran feel even worse, somehow._

 _"Ran… if you want to say something, please just say it," Moca tried to reassure the shorter of the two by half a centimeter, the surprisingly Tomoe-like smile actually did the trick of calming Ran down._

 _With Moca falling silent again soon after she had finished talking, the two of them remained quiet for a long time. Neither of them daring to say another word in fear of saying the wrong thing and completely ruining everything._

 _But somebody had to do it. And they both knew this._

 _"About… About what you said the other day…" Ran trailed off, looking uneasy and fairly flustered as the words left her mouth. Even so, Ran somehow seemed very determined to do what she was doing as Moca could do nothing but wait anxiously to hear what Ran could be saying._

 _In actuality, however, Moca knew full well what Ran was talking about; she had known Ran for far too long to have any doubts in the matter at hand. It was what Ran's possible answer could be that really scared Moca and what ultimately made the guitarist wait with bated breath._

 _"I…" Ran gulped, trying to find the right words to convey what it is that she wanted to say. With a deep breath, Ran steeled herself for what she was about to say, "What Moca said… I… want to give it a try…"_

 _Before Ran could say or do anything else, she was almost toppled over as Moca effectively launched herself at her, wrapping her arms tightly around Ran's neck. Ran was frozen in place at first, not knowing what to do or what this would mean, but then Moca muttered contently in Ran's ear._

 _"Thank you, Ran~ I love you~"_

 _Ran didn't know how. Ran didn't know why. Ran didn't even know when._

 _All that she knows was that hearing Moca's words triggered something deep down inside of her, and Ran soon found herself returning the embrace she was getting from her best friend._

 _'No… Moca is right…' Ran thought to herself while biting her lower lip, casting a sideward glance at the girl who was so close to her in more ways than one. She knew that she had to say it, too._

 _"I…" Ran's voice got stuck in her throat, unable to articulate the words that she wanted to say. That she_ needed _to say. But having heard Moca's words, and having Moca right against her, helped Ran a lot to calm down almost immediately._

 _"I love you too, Moca."_

* * *

In the present day, Ran smiled to herself as she found herself in a familiar place. The very same playground where she had first met Moca all those years ago. The very same playground where she had confessed her own feelings to Moca only a handful of years ago. And now, Ran thought to herself as she looked around, it was only several blocks away from this playground where she would be staying at for the time being.

When Ran had found out where her father had prepared a place to stay for her, Ran genuinely didn't know what to think about it. Was it something that he had planned from the beginning? Was it a coincidence that only this place was available for her to stay at? Whichever one it was, Ran couldn't say that she was disappointed in the actual result.

Until she saw something that she wasn't paying much attention to earlier: she wasn't alone in this playground like what she thought she was earlier.

There was somebody else coming closer to her from the other side, and while Ran squinted hard she couldn't see who it was just yet. This, in addition to the fact that it was already quite late at night and she was exhausted from the long trip here, made Ran feel very uneasy.

Before Ran even had a chance to decide on what she would be doing, the figure came into view and revealed themselves to Ran. This was not enough to ease Ran's worried self, however.

In fact, Ran felt like knowing who was here may have been worse than the alternative of it being a total stranger.

"Fancy running into you here of all places, wouldn't you say so, Ran?" the pink-haired woman greeted Ran with a wave of her hand, adjusting the strap of her bag before walking closer to where Ran was standing. Because she was busy with her own stuff, she didn't pay enough attention to what the other person in the playground was doing or even how she was reacting to her presence.

"…Hello, Himari," Ran muttered softly without looking up at her childhood friend even once. Ran wasn't upset about seeing Himari again, but she just wasn't sure if she was ready or not. She had only been back for two days and she knew that she needed more time before this encounter. Now that she found herself in this situation, what was Ran supposed to do?

Almost as if she was able to read her mind, Himari decided to continue the conversation on her own, "Ran… how… how have you been, lately?"

Something about the way that Himari asked Ran that question riled the former vocalist up. She was ready for Himari to be upset or even angry at her for what she did over three years ago, but this… Himari almost sounded defeated and hopeless as she looked at Ran with wide eyes.

"Why…?"

This question seemed to have caught Himari off-guard as much as Himari's presence in the playground had startled Ran. Unfortunately for Ran, however, she didn't see the change in Himari's expression as she was looking the other way. Even so, Ran knew that something was wrong when Himari remained quiet for an extended period of time.

"Why are you like this?" Ran asked, finally having gathered enough courage and willpower to look Himari straight in her eyes in the hopes that Himari would see what Ran was hiding in hers. But this was a mistake that Ran only realized too late; seeing the expression on Himari's face was all it took for Ran to feel her resolve crumble almost instantly.

When Himari noticed the vast change in Ran's posture, she knew what was going on in Ran's head. And, more importantly, Himari knew that Moca was right all along. This realization almost put a smile on Himari's face, but she knew that she had to focus on the real issue in front of her right now.

"What do you mean, Ran?" Himari asked, making sure to keep her voice gentle and even so as to not startle her old friend. As much as she wanted to do something more for Ran, Himari also knew that she needed to keep her distance. As much as it hurt her, she had to…

"Why aren't you mad at me or anything?" Ran asked, the words were barely audible through her mumblings but she knew that Himari would have picked up on it. She always did, after all, and the change in Himari's expression confirmed to Ran that she had heard her yet again.

"Because we all know that it wasn't anyone's fault back then, so there is nobody _to_ blame," Himari said as calmly as possible, but even Ran could see the look of pain that was hiding behind Himari's eyes. Ran knew, no matter how hard Himari tried to hide it, that she wasn't the only one who had made that mistake.

It was right then that Ran knew that Himari, and likely the other former members of Afterglow, had been pushing the blame on themselves much like Ran had done. For some reason, however, this did not help make Ran feel better; on the contrary, it actually made Ran feel worse.

"Ran?"

Hearing her name like that was enough to make Ran look up in shock, realizing a split second too late that she had been zoning out once again. And getting back to reality meant that Ran had to see the look that was present on Himari's face once again.

She couldn't.

"Sorry, Himari. I have to go…" Ran muttered softly, wrapping her scarf around her neck a little bit tighter before turning around and trying to leave. Before Ran could get very far, however, a hand grabbed her wrist and was keeping her in place.

Ran didn't need to turn around to know who was holding her, but she had already done so almost instinctively to see an uneasy Himari standing right there.

"I won't stop you from going, Ran, but can you at least do me a favor before you do?" Himari pleaded, and Ran knew then and there that she had no real reason to turn down this request of Himari. Ran knew that she couldn't ignore Himari's plea even if she wanted to.

Ran sighed deeply, the stress and tension that had been in her shoulders since Himari had arrived in the playground magically disappearing.

"What do you want me to do, Himari?"

* * *

"Even though I couldn't have a real conversation with Ran, I still think it went well," Himari mused to herself with a smile as she opened the door to a familiar building. Looking around for the people she wanted to see, Himari soon found them and hurried over to where they were, "Sorry to keep you all waiting."

Sitting at the table were the remaining three former members of Afterglow, each drinking their favored drink in this café that Himari had recommended to them after she had gone here with Maruyama Aya back in her senior high school days.

When they noticed that Himari had joined them, they all looked up at her expectantly. Tsugumi was the first to voice the question that all three of them had.

"Himari-chan, how did it go?" Tsugumi asked hopefully, trying to guess the answer simply by looking at Himari's face. Unfortunately for her, as well as for Moca and Tomoe who were looking up just as hopefully, Himari was keeping a surprisingly straight face as she sat down.

It wasn't until after Himari had made her order and gotten comfortable that she finally started talking.

"Ran is back, but she still seems very, uh… conflicted about what happened," Himari began carefully, confirming the suspicions of her friends by doing so. After a momentary pause of silence, Himari looked up straight in Moca's eyes, "Moca, you were right all along…"

"I hate to say 'I told you so', Hii-chan, but~…" Moca trailed off with a teasing smile but decided against finishing her sentence. Taking a quick sip of her drink, Moca added with a sad smile, "Maybe it is for the best… we have to give Ran the space she needs, after all…"

"Moca-chan…"

"Don't you have any ideas of what we could be doing now to help Ran?" Tomoe asked, trying to sound urgent but not too pushy at the same time. Much to Tomoe's dismay, and also of Tsugumi's and Himari's, Moca shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Tomo-chin, but this is how things are going to have to be…" Moca said without looking at any of her childhood friends, "As difficult as it is to accept, none of us can talk to Ran right now. Tomo-chin would be too hard on her, Tsugu would be too nice to her, Hii-chan wouldn't really know what to say in response to whatever Ran says, and I will probably be the worst choice to go and see her now."

A long period of silence followed in which the other three friends contemplated on what Moca had said. They knew that Moca had a point, and if Moca of all people was the one to say this…

"Moca-chan is right…" Tsugumi finally admitted, and both Himari and Tomoe had to begrudgingly agree as well. Turning to Moca, Tsugumi asked carefully, "So we should just give Ran some alone time now? After all this time that we haven't been together?"

"Sorry, Tsugu… but forcing Ran to come back now would only make things worse," Moca said calmly without looking at Tsugumi directly, "As much as it hurts, we need to give her some time to go back to the usual Ran again."

This did it, and the other three had finally accepted that this is how they would be spending their near future. None of them knew how to keep a conversation going after this, however, so they all just ended up playing around with their drinks a bit.

After some time had passed, Tomoe finally voiced the question that she had swirling in her mind, "Himari, how did it go with Ran earlier?"

"Well… I wasn't really able to hold a conversation with her," Himari began awkwardly, seeing Moca smile a triumphant but simultaneously defeated smile in her periphery before she continued, "But I did manage to get her to give me her number again. We may not be able to get Ran back today, but when we do we have a way to reach her."

Tsugumi and Tomoe looked at Himari appreciatively after hearing that, and Moca was having trouble keeping a straight face. Seeing these reactions out of her friends, Himari knew that she had done something good and that they were on the right path.

All they had to do now was wait and hope that things didn't take a turn for the worse now…

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's oneshot! I hope that you all enjoyed, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	11. The Fateful Reunion (Part 4)

**And this is the last of the "reunion" series, and I am pretty sure that we all know who is the focus character of this chapter, right? I mean… there is only one character left, so… let's get this chapter~! But before that…**

 **Disclaimer! I do not own BanG Dream!**

* * *

 _They reached a roadblock. While it was true that they were finally reunited with Tsugumi after so long, none of them knew what to do next. Or, rather, they didn't know how to tackle their obstacle in front of them._

 _Until a familiar voice broke their silence and brought all three former members of Afterglow back to reality._

 _"Sorry for intruding, but I might be able to help to find your friend."_

 _The three friends looked up from where they were sitting to see the familiar face of someone they used to run into a lot but hadn't in a while: Roselia's lead guitarist, Hikawa Sayo. Himari and Tomoe didn't know what to say or do after Sayo invited herself in their group discussion, but Tsugumi had no such difficulties._

 _"Sayo-san!" Tsugumi exclaimed cheerfully and excitedly as she stood up and offered her hand to her senior. A hand that Sayo shook without any sign of hesitation, causing Tsugumi to smile before the brunette went straight to the point, "What did you mean when you said that you thought you might be able to help us, Sayo-san?"_

 _Sayo smiled slightly at Tsugumi, but the smile faltered quickly before she turned serious again. Directing her next couple of words to the three of them as a group, Sayo answered Tsugumi's question as directly as possible, "I mean that I know where Aoba-san is."_

Two hours had passed since they had left the Hazawa Café behind them and followed the directions that Sayo had ultimately given them. This led Tsugumi and Himari on a trek to a part of the city that neither of them had been to before; Tomoe had excused herself after receiving a call from Ako demanding assistance at home and didn't trust Ako to take care of it herself.

"So… this is the place, huh?" Himari asked as she looked at the building in front of her in both amazement and awe. Tsugumi, too, was speechless as she craned her neck to even try and see the top. Himari's voice was enough to bring Tsugumi back to reality, however, when she added, "Are you sure we're at the right place?"

"Sayo-san said that this is where Moca-chan is," Tsugumi responded, slightly timidly so as she fished around in her pockets for her phone. Once her hand wrapped itself around the device, Tsugumi pulled it out and searched through the message that Sayo had sent her.

"This is indeed the place that Sayo-san sent us to," Tsugumi nodded slowly, taking note of the building on her phone and how similar it looked to the building in front of them right now. With a somewhat hesitant gulp, Tsugumi turned to look at Himari, "Let's go, Himari-chan."

"O-Of course!" Himari nodded quickly, following Tsugumi's lead and entered the building after the brunette.

The two girls were met with a sudden blast of cold wind as they entered, causing both of them to flinch and gasp for air soon after. When they finally recovered from the shock, they saw to their pleasant surprise that somebody was already waiting for them on the other side.

"Himari, Tsugumi, it's good to see you two again," a friendly face greeted them with a cheerful wave, one that was returned by Himari but Tsugumi, who had not been expecting her to be there, had to take a couple of minutes to regain her bearings.

"Lisa-senpai! How did you know we were coming?" Himari asked, sounding both elated and surprised, but managed to hide the latter quite well from both of the other people in the room.

The three of them exchanged friendly greetings before Lisa led the two of them to what appeared to be a sitting area in the lobby. Himari and, to a lesser extent, Tsugumi were both very impressed with how pristine the place looked from the inside and neither of them were not above voicing their thoughts. Lisa watched them with a hint of amusement on her face.

"I didn't get to say it earlier, but Sayo actually called in advance to tell me that I might be getting visitors," Lisa said, replying to Himari's earlier question that she had yet to answer. When she saw the look on Tsugumi's face, Lisa added with a smirk, "Surprised that Sayo would do that?"

"N-No, not at all!" Tsugumi exclaimed, a little bit too quickly for the tastes of both Lisa and Himari. Pouting slightly, Tsugumi looked around her a bit, "Why are we waiting here instead of going upstairs, Lisa-senpai? I mean, if I may ask…"

"Relax, Tsugumi, I won't bite," Lisa chuckled cheerfully while placing a reassuring hand on Tsugumi's shoulder. This did help Tsugumi calm down and relax a bit, which was exactly what Lisa wanted it to do, so she continued in a noticeably more serious tone, "As for your actual question, Tsugumi… let's just say that who you are looking for needs a bit more time to get herself ready…"

Lisa's words remained in the air for an extended period of time as Tsugumi and Himari took their time to process what had just been told to them. After some time, and very timidly so, Tsugumi dared to ask what Lisa was talking about.

"It's nothing bad, sorry if I made you worry like that," Lisa smiled apologetically to her two friends, both of them breathing out a sigh of relief after hearing this, "She just needs a bit more time to get dressed, and you know how she is, right? Just as stubborn as a certain vocalist we all know, so she doesn't accept any help from us. I told her to call when she was ready and that I'd be waiting here for her until she did."

"I see…" Himari trailed off, sounding very happy about this. That was when the next thing came into her mind, and Himari was quick to ask her question to Lisa, "So, Lisa-senpai, how is Moca right now?"

Himari would have to wait for her answer as it was at that exact moment that Lisa's phone rang. Motioning apologetically to Himari that she needed to accept it, Lisa stood up to accept the call, leaving Tsugumi and Himari to wait on the comfortable couch for Lisa's return.

Lisa did not take very long, however. As a matter of fact, before Tsugumi and Himari could even begin to discuss what they would do or say when they finally went to see Moca again, they were already joined by Lisa once again.

They didn't even need to hear the words from Lisa, both Tsugumi and Himari already knew exactly what Lisa was about to tell them. Silently, the three of them nodded in almost perfect synchrony.

* * *

The minutes after came and went in the blink of the eye, where Lisa had no idea how to break it to start a conversation and Tsugumi and Himari were too focused on what to do or say to Moca when they would finally meet her again. Eventually, and not a moment too soon for any of the three girls, they reached Lisa's apartment door.

Only, the door was already open, and somebody was standing in the opening. Somebody who was very familiar to the two visitors. Somebody who they hadn't seen for several months after that fated day.

"Moca-chan!"

"Moca!"

Two excited screams could be heard in the corridor before the sound of hurried footsteps reverberated through the area. Lisa, being the only one to stay back, watched with an amused look on her face as Tsugumi and Himari practically flung themselves at Moca.

"Owowow… Tsugu… Hii-chan… get off…" Moca's muffled voice came from the ground after she had lost her balance, Tsugumi and Himari having landed on top of the poor girl. With Lisa helping Himari back on her feet, and Tsugumi awkwardly getting back up herself as well, Moca was soon freed from the added weight of her friends.

Giving the ivory-haired girl a quick but somewhat sheepish apology, both Tsugumi and Himari followed Lisa into her apartment and waited for them to be led to a seat. Once all four of them have gotten comfortable and Lisa had placed a big plate of sweets in front of them, they were met with an age-old problem: how to break the uncomfortable silence that had formed.

Moca, who was munching away at one cookie after the other, was eyeing her old friends with a curious look in her eyes. It had been a long time since she had last found herself in this situation, but Moca knew that she had to break the silence somehow if she wanted anything to come out of this reunion.

The only problem for Moca was that somebody had beaten her to it.

"So, Moca… I know it might still be hard for you after everything that has happened, but why not start somewhere?" Lisa started with a somewhat uneasy smile, looking cautiously between Moca and the two visitors. Lisa did not know how to feel when she saw that she was not the only person in the room who felt uneasy at the situation, but she kept going, "Like where you want to be going from here and what you want to do with your old friends."

"What's there left to say, Lisa-san?" Moca asked with a straight face, the tone in which she said those words was what really shocked Tsugumi and Himari. That didn't sound like the Moca they had always known for all these years, but that was when they remembered that these past months must have been harder on Moca than they first thought they were.

"Moca!"

"Isn't it obvious that Moca-chan wants things to be like they were and to be able to spend days with the rest of Afterglow?" Moca let the last couple of words linger in the air in favor of taking a bite out of her twelfth cookie that afternoon.

But Moca got the intended effect that she was aiming for. Tsugumi and Himari were both looking at her with looks that bordered between shock, relief, and happiness, and Moca knew exactly why. Moca quickly excused herself to go grab a glass of milk for herself, but in actuality, it was a sneaky way for her to hide the grin that had since formed on her face.

"Moca has been like this ever since she got in the hospital…" Lisa trailed off moments after Moca had left the three of them alone, continuing the conversation in her place. The two former members of Afterglow didn't know how to respond, so Lisa continued, "She has been pushing herself to get better faster, and I think that the prospect of being able to return to all of you was what made her push so hard for it. Not a single day went by where she didn't talk about wanting to get back together with all of you, after all…"

"Moca-chan…" Tsugumi trailed off with a sad and guilty look on her face, one that was mirrored by Himari who was sitting beside her. The brunette stayed that way for a while, but she eventually managed to find the strength to look up at Lisa again, "And after everything… none of us have made much effort to visit and spend time with Moca-chan…"

"If Tsugu and Hii-chan have enough time to worry about that, then you two have enough time to worry about getting everybody back together again~" a gentle yet playful voice said in a sing-song voice from behind where Tsugumi and Himari were sitting before both of them felt an arm snake around them and keep them in a group hug. Moca had, at some point in time, rejoined them and was now using the most effective way to keep her friends close to her, "We have to get Ran and Tomo-chin back, after all. Do you know where Tomo-chin is, Hii-chan?"

"She's at home; Ako-chan called out of nowhere saying that there was an emergency earlier," Himari explained after having escaped from Moca's clutches and regained her freedom. As soon as she was free, Himari saw that Moca just casually let go of Tsugumi before walking around and plopping down beside Lisa again. Himari was about to say something about that but never got the chance to do so.

"But she told us to tell you that she said 'hi' and that she is sorry she couldn't be here right now," Tsugumi picked up where Himari had left off. Moca was listening intently and even Lisa, who had no say in the matter at hand, did not let any part of the conversation get past her, "And she asked if it was okay if she would meet you another day."

"Of course it is~ why wouldn't I want to see little old Tomo-chin~?" Moca smiled, causing a chorus of laughter from the other girls. When Moca looked around her quizzically, it was Lisa who was the first to respond.

"I don't think any of us have to remind you that Tomoe is quite a bit taller than you are, right?" Lisa chuckled before taking a cookie for herself. Giving Moca a sideward glance Lisa saw the small pout that Moca was doing, causing her to almost choke on the crumbles.

"Anyways… Tsugu, Hii-chan, I want to ask the favor of a lifetime from both of you. And Tomo-chin, too, of course," Moca added that last bit quickly when she saw the look on Himari's face. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down, Moca turned to look at both Tsugumi and Himari with a look in her eyes that they hadn't seen for years, "I want to be able to get us back together. To get us back together to the same as always."

"We all feel the same way, Moca, and it took us way too long to realize this…" Himari replied with a sad smile. Tsugumi nodded slowly as well, remembering how she had been only a handful of weeks before. With a sigh, Himari added, "And besides, Ran isn't even here anymore. She left and none of us know where she could be right now. We've tried calling her, we've tried messaging her, Tomoe even went as far as looking into places where her family may have moved to, but we're not any closer to finding Ran."

"Even if Ran isn't here, I know where Ran will be when she comes back…" Moca said, sounding surprisingly calm and unfazed after what she had just been told. After taking a sip from her glass, Moca added, "It's the same place as always. None of us have changed much, after all, and I doubt that Ran has, either. If there is one place that she would go to after being away for a long time… it would be there."

"But—" Tsugumi began before the realization dawned on her and she let her sentence die out on her tongue. Himari seemed to have realized what Moca was trying to say, but unlike Tsugumi looked a lot more troubled by it for some reason.

"It may take a while for Ran to come back, don't you think so, Moca?" Lisa asked as she tried to keep the conversation going. Moca nodded in agreement but otherwise remained quiet, so Lisa knew that she had to continue, "There is a lot that all of you should probably be doing until that day comes, right? Getting your own lives back together, returning back to the world and an everyday rhythm, and figuring out what to do when Ran finally _does_ come home."

"I couldn't have said it any better myself, Lisa-san~" Moca smiled before she took another deep breath. With an almost shaky smile, one that did not go unnoticed by either Tsugumi or Himari, Moca continued, "We have to give Ran an Afterglow that is the same as always to return to. So let's focus on that first, Tsugu! Hii-chan!"

* * *

 **That is the end of today's chapter, but not of this oneshot collection series! No, there is still one more chapter that has been planned to be uploaded, and it will go live next week! Spoiler alert: it is probably my favorite chapter to write of the entire The Times We Lost series.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	12. The Past I'll Never Forget

**Well, this is a chapter that I wasn't looking forward to uploading. Why? You'll find out soon enough!**

 **Also, by the way, that was a lie; this was, by far, the chapter I loved writing the most out of the entirety of the The Times We Lost universe! It is a bittersweet moment for me at the very least, however, as this marks the end of a journey of mine of about ten months.**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always. I do not own BanG Dream, and I probably never will.**

* * *

It had been three years since the five girls who would one day form the band by the name of Afterglow had met and become friends. No, not just friends; they had become the closest of friends. A friendship that was stronger than of anyone else in the city.

These five girls have practically been inseparable since their bonds were formed, a well-known fact by most.

And, on this fine afternoon, as the final bell rang indicating the end of the primary school day, it surprised nobody that these five friends could, once again, be seen together.

"Ah, Himari-chan! That is so cute!" the youngest of the five girls, a girl with short brown-colored hair named Tsugumi, exclaimed in awe and admiration as she looked at what her friend had brought to school today.

"It is, isn't it? Right? Right? What do you all think?" Himari asked as she turned to look at the others to see what their reactions were to her new headband. One of them shared Tsugumi's response, if a little less enthusiastic. The next simply nodded in agreement, already busy looking through her stuff to make sure that she didn't forget anything.

And the last girl of the group?

"I'm sorry, I have to go…"

The last girl of the group had already left the classroom well before even half of them noticed that she wasn't with them anymore. However, nobody seemed too concerned about her sudden exit. It did cause another emotion to surface, though…

"This is the third time this week that Moca just… ran off like that…" Tomoe muttered as she looked in the direction that Moca had gone off to. She wasn't the only one who was worried, but she was the first to voice her worries, "You think something is wrong?"

"I sure hope not…" Himari sighed in response, the answer that they knew they all shared. Then, very carefully, Himari added, "Should we… try and see if we can help?"

"No. How would you feel if you had problems at home and people dug their noses in your personal business?" Ran asked, and everybody fell silent. Of course, none of them wanted their friend to be dealing with something big on their own, but they knew that Ran had a point. The fact that Ran sounded so serious now only helped persuade them that Ran was right.

"If… If Moca-chan really is dealing with something big at home, I'm sure that she would tell us," Tsugumi tried to reassure her friends, although she still sounded very shaky while saying that. Fortunately for Tsugumi, her words seemed to have done the deed as this did seem to calm everybody down a bit.

"I'm going home, I'm hungry!" Himari whined before slinging her bag's strap over her shoulder and jogging out. Tsugumi and Tomoe, both already ready to leave as well, waited for Ran to catch up to them.

"Go on without me, I think I left something," Ran said as she turned around to head back to the classroom. Not looking back, Ran was already out of sight before either of her friends could even respond.

It didn't take Ran long to get back to the classroom, nor did it take her very long to find the empty water bottle that was waiting for her on her table. She counted herself lucky that the teachers hadn't locked the door yet and was about to head out to go home when her gaze landed on something else in the room.

"What is this…?" Ran muttered to herself, picking up the offending object on the table next to hers. It seemed familiar, though she didn't know how so.

Of course, that was when Ran figured it all out. Making up her mind, she put it in her bag and left the school building in a hurry. Ran didn't even notice that nobody was outside for her to run into on her way out.

* * *

"I am sorry, Ran-chan, but you only just missed her."

"I see…" Ran muttered, slightly upset that she got lost slightly on her way here. But she didn't let this stop her, "Do you know where I can find her?"

Ran was finding herself in front of her best friend's house about twenty minutes after saying her goodbyes to Tsugumi and Tomoe, and was currently out looking for said best friend. Unfortunately, Ran had just received the news that her friend wasn't home. Instead, Ran was greeted by her friend's aunt at the door.

"Moca should have gone over there," Moca's aunt noted as she pointed to a seemingly random direction. Ran bowed gratefully before heading to where she was directed to.

'But why did Moca come here… there is nothing in this area where she would have gone to… or rather, nothing she would go out of her way coming here for it…' Ran thought to herself, and rightfully so. This area of the city was almost deserted and only the smallest of stores were here. And even if Ran didn't know this part of the city all that well, she couldn't think of any reason why Moca would go all the way here.

That was when it hit Ran: the one thing that could have urged Moca to come here. It wasn't just some small stores that were here, after all, there was also—.

"But why would Moca…?"

As Ran was deep in thought, she didn't look where she was going and Ran ran into someone. Hard. Rubbing the sore spot on her skin that hit the concrete, Ran quickly apologized, "I'm sorry."

"What is… Ran doing here…?"

That voice sounded awfully familiar to Ran. Why did it sound so familiar?

Ran got her answer when she finally gathered the strength to look up.

"Moca?"

What surprised Ran the most wasn't that she actually ran into Moca here or why she would have come here of all places in the first place.

It was the wooden bucket and ladle that Moca was carrying with her.

"Moca…? Where are you…?" Ran breathed out in shock and disbelief, but she didn't get to finish her questions as Moca simply turned around and walked off as if Ran didn't even exist. Ran, now panicking, hurried after her, "Moca! Wait! Where are you going?"

"Don't follow me!" Moca exclaimed suddenly, turning to Ran with a look in her eyes that Ran couldn't quite put together. A look that Ran would have expected to come from anyone on the planet… anyone except Moca.

But then Moca showed something that Ran _did_ recognize: a single tear was rolling down Moca's face. A tear that Moca did not even bother wiping away as she turned around and sprinted off again.

Ran was frozen on the spot after Moca had run off, even after seconds had turned into minutes. In all of the years that Ran had known Moca, she had never seen the girl shed a tear even once. If there was one person in Ran's life who was always bright and cheerful, who would always support everyone around them and not let the negativity affect her… it would be Moca.

But this wasn't just a tear of sadness or fear, Ran could figure at least that much already. And the fact that she _did_ only made Ran even more worried when she finally realized what kind of tear it was.

It was a tear of helplessness.

Ran's body moved even without her realizing it. Ran somehow knew that, despite Moca trying to be alone she wanted to be anything but. Ran would recognize that better than anyone… or so she tried to convince herself as she sprinted down the streets looking for her best friend.

Unfortunately for Ran, she soon found out that she was lost. This was her first time actually coming here so she wasn't familiar with these streets. Having run around in a frenzy may not have helped her out a lot, either. And as if that wasn't bad enough for Ran, she couldn't see anyone around her who she could have potentially gone up to to ask for directions.

Right when Ran was about to give up and admit that she just couldn't find Moca this way, a miracle happened. She actually saw Moca's head over the little stone fence she was sitting against.

And Moca was…

* * *

Moca, for her part, thought that she was all alone again. She didn't see Ran for an extended period of time, and she had pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she filled her bucket with cold water at the public faucet she usually used. While waiting for the bucket to fill, Moca went through her bag to make sure that she brought it.

Looking content, Moca turned off the tap and made her way through the maze-like area that she found herself in. Anyone else might have given up at this point, but Moca was determined to reach her destination. And, after a ten-minute search, her efforts were finally rewarded.

In a rather secluded area that was partly hidden by the shade of the trees around it were two graves.

Moca gently placed all her stuff down, well away from either grave, before she got to work. Not caring that her clothes were getting dirty while she was cleaning both graves, Moca pulled all the wild plants around the graves out of the ground before throwing them almost haphazardly into the plastic bag that she had prepared in advance. Before a lot of time had passed, the graves were completely plant-free again, and Moca moved on to the next step.

Cleaning. Moca made sure that every square centimeter of both graves was thoroughly cleaned using the ladle to pour water over them. She also made sure to clean off the vases and the incense holders that were placed by the graves while she was at it, both having become significantly dirty since the last time she came here.

As soon as she was content with it, Moca gently placed every flower that she had brought with her in the vases and inserted the incense in the incense holder. She looked around for her lighter but, much to her horror, couldn't find it in her pocket or in her bag.

"Here, let me help you," a gentle voice came from behind Moca before a black-haired girl stepped forward, careful so as to not accidentally step on the graves herself, and lit all the incense with the lighter in her hand. Moca was about to thank her when she realized who it was.

Unfortunately for Moca, Ran had already put her hands together and closed her eyes before Moca could do or say anything else. This left Moca no time or room to comment on Ran's presence at all, forcing her to keep quiet until later. Grumbling slightly to herself at how well Ran had handled the situation, Moca decided to join her friend in the silent prayer as she tried to suppress the memories that fought to resurface. Memories she didn't want to resurface.

And definitely not now while one of her friends would be able to see her break down if those memories _did_ resurface.

So Moca, having been left without much of a choice, decided to just go with it.

 _'I am sorry that it has been so long since my last visit. I have been so busy with school lately and one of my friends keeps dragging me around when I don't want to go out. She's a handful, but she's still really nice! Oh, it's not who is with me right now, she's another friend and one who I want to introduce to you right now.'_

 _'Mama, Papa, I like you to meet my best friend. Her name is Mitake Ran and she is very nice, even if she might not look like it. It is because of her that I managed to keep going, and… I want to tell her. I want to tell her everything. I wasn't sure about it at first, but now I am, so… please wish me luck and give me strength!'_

 _'I promise the next time I visit will be sooner than this time. Please watch over me from wherever you are, Mama! Papa! Moca will do her best and will make Mama and Papa proud!'_

 _'I love you!'_

Moca slowly opened her eyes after finishing her prayer, feeling a lot calmer than she did before. This felt good. This felt right. She knew what she had to do now, almost as if she could feel the ghostly embrace of her parents from the other side.

As much as Moca was enjoying this feeling, and as much as Moca wanted to never leave, she knew what had to be done.

"Ran… I owe you an explanation and an apology," Moca said slowly after she stood back up. She saw the look on Ran's face and held out her hand to stop her when Ran made a move to say something, "No, I really do. Please help me clean this up and we can talk somewhere else."

* * *

With the added pair of hands, it didn't take the two of them too long to clean up after their little visit. This left them with a lot of extra free time; free time that Moca used to fulfill her earlier promise.

Since the two of them knew that they shouldn't do so in the cemetery, they made sure to find a comfortable bench somewhere else. Thankfully, Moca and Ran managed to find an empty and comfortable bench not too far from where they were.

Neither of them broke the silence that they soon found themselves in. Moca didn't know where to start, this being the first time that she was opening up to her friends about this issue. Ran, in turn, didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing as she knew how difficult this must be for Moca.

"So… Ran is probably wondering who we just visited, right?" Moca finally asked, her voice a lot shakier than Ran remembered it to be. Ran nodded slowly, and Moca took a deep breath, "That was… Mama… and Papa…"

"Moca… I'm sorry, I—"

"It's okay, Ran… you couldn't have done anything… nobody could have…" Moca mumbled softly, her words hardly audible as she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top. After several silent seconds went by like this, Moca continued, "It was just… one day they were gone… and I don't even know why or how…"

"You don't know how they…?" Ran trailed off, carefully choosing so as to not accidentally hurt her already emotionally exhausted friend, but stopped when she saw her friend shake her head.

"It went by so fast… and one day, my aunt came to my house and told me I would live with her…" Moca sighed, her voice trembling slightly as the words left her. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down, Moca picked back up where she had left off, "My aunt never told me why or what had happened to Mama or Papa… it wasn't until this year that I found out why… why Mama and Papa… never picked up the phone."

"Moca…" Ran trailed off, her hands clenching tightly into fists as she felt powerless. She knew that she wasn't the best at helping people with their emotions; at least, nowhere near as good as someone like Tomoe.

Ran never felt more helpless, wanting nothing more than to somehow help her friend who was so clearly in pain.

As Ran took her time to take all of this in, Moca took the opportunity to calm herself down and stop herself from breaking down. Mustering all of her strength and willpower, Moca did something that surprised Ran. Moca smiled, "But I'm all right now."

"Are you… sure?" Ran asked carefully, to which Moca nodded in confirmation and reassurance before standing up.

"Yes, I am," Moca smiled as she motioned for Ran to follow her, "Come on, the bakery should still be open! Last one there will buy the other a pastry!"

"Don't be silly… I'm buying you one," Ran said in a serious tone, surprising her friend before realizing why she had followed her here in the first place. Ran put her bag down and rummaged through it until she found it and, once she did, handed the book back to its rightful owner, "Here, you forgot this in class. Now let's go before the bakery closes."

"Thank you, Ran~" Moca cheered, about to follow her friend when something washed over her. Before she knew it, Moca had turned around to look at where the two of them had just been and smiled as a single thought ran through her mind.

 _'Mama… Papa… I've found them. Friends who care for me. Friends who love me for who I am. Your Moca is in good hands, and I promise I will make you both proud!'_

"Moca, we need to go."

"Coming, Ran~"

And with that, the two girls walked off into the sunset together. One of them had made up her mind to support the other no matter what would happen, and the other knew that this was all right.

Everything would be all right as long as she had her precious friends with her.

* * *

 **Well, that was… a whole lot of fun to write XD so what if it didn't end up like I thought it would? It still became pretty good, right? Anyways, I still hope that you liked it, please leave a review telling me of what you thought, and thank you for your support of the The Times We Lost series! And I hope you will all come back when I start my next big BanG Dream! story, whenever that may be (*cough* April *cough*)! Until then, take care!**

 **A post detailing the chronological order will be posted over on the Falneou17 Tumblr in a bit. It will use the tag "The Times We Lost Chronology" for easier searching for you; feel free to use that to clear up timeline confusions if any are still there.**


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